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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29962107">Adventure in Marriage</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkyrieShepard/pseuds/ValkyrieShepard'>ValkyrieShepard</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Adventures of Hualian [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Heaven Official's Blessing, 天官赐福, 天官赐福 - 墨香铜臭 | Tiān Guān Cì Fú - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù, 天官赐福 | Heaven Official's Blessing (Cartoon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adoption, Adoptive son, Description of wounds, Domesticity, Established Relationship, Fantasy, Fluff, Lingerie, M/M, Magic Lube, Mystery, PTSD, Post Novel, Sequel, Sex Magic, Smut, hualian still have a lot of sex, idk man i just had to get beefleaf back together post novel, magic crotch symbol, male wetness</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 09:40:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>32,331</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29962107</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkyrieShepard/pseuds/ValkyrieShepard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After having been proposed to by Hua Cheng, Xie Lian now has to plan his own wedding. Conveniently he gets help as he also must solve the curious case of the return of the Lady Wind Master in all her divinity. But there are no right answers when it comes to love.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Background FengQing - Relationship, Feng Xin/Mu Qing (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), He Xuan/Shi Qingxuan, Hua Cheng/Xie Lian (Tiān Guān Cì Fú), Hualian - Relationship, beefleaf - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Adventures of Hualian [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145531</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>115</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Adventure in Marriage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>You should probably read the <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/series/2145531">previous parts</a> if you haven't already! :) And FengQing get together <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28654068">right here</a>.  Hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Xie Lian looked down at Hua Cheng and he felt his heart being so full, it would not be able to be contained for much longer. His hands were shaking, his legs were shaking, and tears spilled over his cheeks. Hua Cheng was kneeling in front of him, asking this lowly god, this scrap god, the one he had devoted his life to - to marry him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a moment he felt that time stood still. His body felt as light as the lanterns floating in the sky, all of them made by Hua Cheng, for Xie Lian. How did he ever get this lucky? How did he deserve someone like Hua Cheng? Someone who had been there in the darkest moments of his life, who had died for him repeatedly, someone who loved him so much, was ready to give so much?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Every day he was surprised to find that his heart could become fuller and fuller.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He finally fell to his knees, grasping onto Hua Cheng’s strong arms. Xie Lian did not feel the impact, only noticed this wonderful man becoming blurry as more and more tears fell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes!,” he heard himself say, many times. Over and over, calling his name.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As he was held, he felt as if on clouds. His heart soared. At this moment, though his life had been far from calm and easy, everything simply felt perfect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The fear he’d had a few days ago, thinking Tao Min had gotten hurt, his fear that one day this good life would end for him, was temporarily eased. At this moment all that he could feel was love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng held him tightly, and the boy that had led him to the hill near Puqi Shrine joined into their hug. Xie Lian couldn’t say anything at the moment, he was crying because being this happy was simply overwhelming. He felt gentle hands on his cheek, large and comforting hands that wiped the wetness from his cheeks, following up with light kisses pressed there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why is papa crying?,” Tao Min asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had finally managed to stop his tears, but he could not stop smiling. Maybe he would be like this forever. Thinking of Hua Cheng and how they would be together always from now on. He felt as if the wedding had already happened, as if they were already joined.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It is only because I am so happy,” Xie Lian told him, unsure of how to explain it. “There is so much happiness inside that I am not sure how I can feel it all at once.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min certainly looked as if he did not understand. He frowned and thought for a moment, eventually shrugging.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So it’s good? Happy is good, isn’t it?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Very good,” he replied, pulling him close and kissing the top of his head. When he turned to Hua Cheng, he closed his eyes to welcome the kiss to his lips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And sighed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang and Ah-Min were very sneaky,” he said quietly. “I really did not expect it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tall papa made me promise not to say!,” Tao Min giggled. “It was really fun!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m glad you had fun,” Xie Lian had to laugh. The happiness he felt, the rush that was still felt in his body, he couldn’t keep it in. Again and again he would lean towards his boys to give them kisses.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His boys. His son. Tao Min now freely called them both ‘papa’. They were going to raise him together, be a real family. Xie Lian had never thought it possible.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Together they sat on that hill and watched the lanterns float higher and higher, where the new Heavenly Court would see them. A short moment of anxiety got to him, to think that every god there would see the colour of them, very different from all the other lanterns. But the love that was between them was not a secret anymore, what was the difference if they knew what they were going to do? A part of him wanted to shout it from this hilltop so that everyone could know.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Could know how happy he was…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was late by the time they finally returned to the shrine, and Tao Min had curled up in Xie Lian’s lap to fall asleep there. Though knowing that he didn’t need as much sleep as he did while alive, he seemed to enjoy the comfort of it. Xie Lian knew the feeling too well. He carried the small body in his arms while Hua Cheng had an arm around his shoulder in turn.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang has been very quiet,” Xie Lian said, in a low voice, not wanting to wake up Tao Min. “Did it not go the way you planned?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng shook his head, smiling down at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was just as I planned,” he replied. “I am merely enjoying Gege’s happiness. And… feel grateful that I am allowed to provide it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Was that… insecurity he heard in Hua Cheng’s voice? Xie Lian glanced up at him, but it seemed his eye was unwilling to meet his own. He was thoughtful for a while, until they were back and he had tucked in Tao Min in the small side room so that they could talk. He firmly pressed down on Hua Cheng’s shoulders so that he would sit on their makeshift bed in the main room, and then decided to settle in his lap. Strong hands immediately came to rest on his waist, and Xie Lian smiled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My good San Lang,” he whispered, leaning in close. First a kiss to his cheek, nuzzling him there. “My sweet San Lang.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another kiss to his jaw, to his earlobe, where teeth gently tugged. Below him Hua Cheng tensed slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My handsome San Lang,” Xie Lian continued. He pulled back a little, his hands coming to card through the beautiful raven hair, soft as silk. “Tell me, was there a doubt in your heart that I would not say yes?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This one is just a humble believer…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian was taken aback. He had never seen Hua Cheng like this. Doubting himself. What else was going on inside that he did not share with Xie Lian?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he sighed. “You must not ever doubt the love that I have for you. I have it because of <em>all</em> of you. Every single part of you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He cupped Hua Cheng’s cheeks to make him look at him again, then slowly leaned in to press a kiss on top of his eye patch. Whatever faults Hua Cheng could possibly see with himself, Xie Lian loved them all. He would love him so much, every single day, so that one day he could perhaps return everything that Hua Cheng had given to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know that I would never lie to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng nodded, a smile slowly returning to his lips. Like this, Xie Lian liked him much better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege is so kind,” he whispered and pulled him closer. Drawn to one another by that invisible force, that love they had for one another, their lips met for another kiss.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the end, Xie Lian sighed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let me show San Lang how much I love my most devout believer,” Xie Lian whispered, already working on lifting his robes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege…,” Hua Cheng’s voice was even deeper than it normally was, when the pupil of his eye widened and his hands eagerly helped Xie Lian undress.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He didn’t remember exactly what he said in his sleep that made Hua Cheng seek him out to be intimate with each other more often. But it had been something on his mind. He had gone from never having touched another man in such ways, from wanting Hua Cheng to do it to him all the time. His thoughts, despite his best efforts, always strode in that direction. And now Hua Cheng knew.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And all he did was to cater to this Highness’ wants and needs. He had reached out for him more frequently, teased him when they were alone and a single touch of that hand against his bare skin, that hand sliding underneath his robes… It was all it took for Xie Lian to <em>want</em>. A feeling that at times threatened to overwhelm him, consume him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But then Hua Cheng was there, and he took care of it all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>However, Xie Lian had gotten bolder too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pulled out Hua Cheng’s impressive length, already heavy and hard in his hand. In a familiar motion he sat up to align himself with it, slowly sinking down. His breath shuddered against Hua Cheng’s lips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he moaned, leaning in to kiss his cheek again, moving from there to his neck. He really wanted to show how much he loved him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a hand on his arm. A gentle caress of his cheek. With his hips rolling to take him inside even deeper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he moaned again, words breathier, deeper. So quiet they could only be heard by his one true love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How good you feel inside,” he continued, still caressing him. Hua Cheng’s eye was fixed on him, and so were his own on him in turn. They could not look away, and that vulnerability he had seen in Hua Cheng was only more apparent now. So he held him close, kept reassuring him. “How good you make me feel every day. Oh San Lang, you make me so happy, I want to do the same in return.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You do,” Hua Cheng whispered to him. His hands tightened on his waist, helping lift and sink down on his cock in a slow rhythm. “Of course Gege does.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not everything has to be on your shoulders,” Xie Lian was panting now, feeling that familiar heat slowly spread inside him. “I hope San Lang knows he can rely on me as I do on you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian tensed, stopping his rhythm for a moment. He continued to make sure that Hua Cheng was looking at him. Really <em>looking</em>. He had done so, so much for him in the past, if only he had known. But he hadn’t, and Hua Cheng had never asked for anything in return. Now however, was the time when Xie Lian had to return the favour.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Promise me,” he whispered. “Promise me you will, if you need to.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, Gege,” Hua Cheng sighed softly, leaning in closer and said softly against his lips: “I promise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That was good enough for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good San Lang,” he moaned, pulling him closer, their foreheads resting together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was quiet intimacy between them as they chased their release. Their eyes never left one another’s, gazing deeply and longingly. Slowly it seemed that Hua Cheng’s vulnerability didn’t seem quite as raw, as painful as it had been. He relaxed with the man he was going to marry, let him see him for what he was - so much more complex than Xie Lian had even known. Every new part that emerged, he would love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian was panting against his lips when they both finally came. He pulled Hua Cheng close so he could rest his head on Xie Lian’s shoulder, and they remained that way for a while. Partially because Xie Lian loved this moment after, still sensing the remnants of his orgasm, how pliant and soft his body became, and because he loved still feeling Hua Cheng inside him. Only now he also felt that he just absolutely had to hold him this way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What kind of wedding does Gege like?,” Hua Cheng asked softly, turning his head to kiss his neck. “I wished to have your opinion before I planned anything…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Or did you still worry I would not say yes?</em>, Xie Lian asked himself, but did not say it out loud. Hua Cheng could read him like an open book, and Xie Lian was learning to do the same. Not all reassurances had to be said out loud though.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Very thoughtful of San Lang,” he said gently, smiling to himself. “I… have not thought about it much, I have to confess. I did not think I ever would…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We have time, Gege,” Hua Cheng told him. He pulled back then to caress his cheek as they simply enjoyed each other’s company.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That is true,” he chuckled. “I think… something small would be nice. I… I wonder if Feng Xin and Mu Qing would agree to come…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmph,” Hua Cheng huffed. “Do they have to?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” Xie Lian said, scolding a little. “They still mean a lot to me. They always will.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine,” Hua Cheng grumbled, and it looked so cute that Xie Lian simply had to kiss his face all over. As he did, he made him smile again too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I wonder if we could find Shi Qingxuan again…,” he said softly. He still felt bad about the state of him, but there was very little that he could do. He didn’t have a lot of money himself that he could give him…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll find him if Gege wants it,” Hua Cheng told him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, I’d really like that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It will be done then.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They remained like this for a little while, talking softly before cleaning up properly and finally joining Tao Min in the side room. The boy was always eager to cuddle between them in his sleep, though Xie Lian had the feeling Hua Cheng did not get much of that this night. He had only smiles for them when they woke though, and their days, Xie Lian felt, continued even happier than they had been.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian often found himself distracted looking at the red string on his finger, thinking about this upcoming wedding, how it might go, and how much he loved this man by his side. Other times he simply got lost staring at him. How unfairly handsome he was. From the first day Xie Lian had thought so, but hadn’t quite let himself admit these thoughts. Not really. But he had fallen for Hua Cheng even before he had known the extent of his devotion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not just because he was handsome. The qualities that he loved so much about him became even clearer in these days, now that they were taking care of little Tao Min. He would watch them talk and play together, watch Hua Cheng lift the boy up to twirl him around which made him giggle so hard he had to be held in those strong arms after.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Quite a while after, and despite the many weeks having passed Xie Lian still felt so much love every day, he was watching the two talk. They had gone to the little village to get some food, and Tao Min was always happy to come. Hua Cheng had taken him to the side, the two sitting on the porch of the shop that Xie Lian had just been in. He was pointing out other children to Tao Min, some older, some younger than him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“As you’ll grow up, you’ll have to grow your body yourself,” Hua Cheng explained. “It doesn’t grow on its own anymore, do you understand?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min nodded, big eyes looking up at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But how?,” he asked. “Is it hard?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The same way I showed you before. I’ll guide you the first few times, you’ll understand soon enough,” Hua Cheng explained. “You have to picture the change you want to see in your body. Look at what you see in others, how you imagine yourself to be as you grow.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm,” Tao Min seemed thoughtful as he looked at the passing people. “Can I be tall? Like papa?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng had to chuckle at that, and pulled him into his lap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course. But not for a while. Wouldn’t it be strange if you were that tall all of a sudden? You must go through all the other heights first.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ohh, I see.” Tao Min seemed to accept it as a rule that was somewhere written and must be adhered to. “When can I grow, tall papa?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We can try a little bit, back at the shrine, okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yay!” Tao Min suddenly stood in his lap and kissed his cheek rather sloppily, as small children tended to do. But Hua Cheng wasn’t grossed out, he instead stood and held him close.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s Gege,” he said, turning to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How sweet you are with him,” Xie Lian whispered, leaning in to kiss his cheek but suddenly remembering where they were. He blushed and adjusted his hat, pulling away rather awkwardly. Tao Min watched the scene, looking a little confused, but not saying anything.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Does Gege have everything?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He let himself indulge in some hand holding on the way back though, when the road was empty and they were chatting about Tao Min’s new form. Xie Lian couldn’t help much in that regard, but he continued to watch the two as they went about to experiment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They only had a rather crude mirror here, but Tao Min being small, it still fulfilled its purpose. Hua Cheng was standing behind him, holding his hands and guiding him the way he had done before. The boy was allowed to raise himself a mere centimetre, though he already felt extremely excited about that fact, eagerly showing it to Xie Lian who suggested marking his height on the wood in this room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That way we can see just how much Ah-Min grows every time,” he explained, kissing the top of the now much taller Tao Min’s head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It didn’t quite stop there though. They watched as Tao Min’s eyes changed in colour, from his brown to blue, to green, all that he had seen today. Then he glanced at Xie Lian, turned back to a mirror and settled on a gentle golden colour. His hair too grew a bit, going down to his chin now, and the way it framed his face made him look even more adorable. Xie Lian couldn’t help but pick him up and squeeze him tightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh look at how tall and handsome Ah-Min is!,” he exclaimed, making the boy giggle and blush.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not as handsome as papa!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh Ah-Min-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Your Highness</em>?, a voice rang out in his personal communication array, a voice that sounded scared, and oddly familiar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So familiar he almost dropped Tao Min.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Wh-Who?</em>, he thought and said out loud at the same time. Hua Cheng stood immediately, seeing the expression on his face and took Tao Min from him to set him down safely.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>It’s me. I think. Lord- Shi Qingxuan.</em> The voice sounded very feminine. How was this possible?!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Shi Qingxuan?! Lord Wind Master, how are you talking to me right now?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>I must confess I do not know. I was knocked out I think… I think days ago. I woke up here… like this. Like I used to be.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Where exactly?</em>, Xie Lian asked. Lord Wind Master was back?! Ascended again? But it shouldn’t have been possible, the state of his body… But now <em>she</em> was here talking to him!</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>I don’t know</em>, she whined. <em>There are so many trees and I’ve been trying to find my way out but there’s only more trees!</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Soul Shifting Spell?</em>, Xie Lian suggested.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Oh… why not. It’s not the first time after all.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s Shi Qingxuan,” Xie Lian explained, turning to Hua Cheng. “She’s back somehow. I’m going to use the Soul Shifting Spell to figure out where she is, wait a moment.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He uttered the incantation and felt his soul shift from his body, similarly to how the scrying array had worked. And maybe that might have been an easier choice, he thought as he suddenly found himself in Shi Qingxuan’s body. Looking down and being greeted by a pair of breasts, he found himself blushing and quickly looked up again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>These trees were familiar. He swiftly and easily managed to climb one of them, feeling the spiritual energy in this body. His mind was racing. How could this have happened so suddenly? But as he stood on top of the tree he could see almost all the way to Puqi Shrine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How very oddly convenient. He would be very easily be able to just walk this body to it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But as he jumped down and felt the slight movement of those breasts, he swallowed hard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Oh Your Highness, you are adorable</em>, came a laughing voice inside his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright I’m coming to pick you up,” he said quickly and ended the spell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a jolt he was back inside his body, but Hua Cheng wasn’t in this room. Only Tao Min looked at him expectantly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I have to go and pick up a friend,” Xie Lian knelt and explained to him. “Please promise me that you will stay in the shrine. You can play in the yard but don’t leave, okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay,” Tao Min nodded, smiling sweetly. What a good boy he was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Returning to the main room of the shrine, he saw Hua Cheng pacing there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Something wrong?,” he asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… Have to check up on something,” Hua Cheng said, quickly walking to him to kiss his cheek. “I’ll be right back.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian knew better to ask what he was doing when he was in such a mysterious mood. He would tell him when it was ready to be told, and Xie Lian trusted him fully. With Tao Min staying behind and Hua Cheng leaving after a roll of his dice, he quickly made his way towards where he remembered Shi Qingxuan to be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The short trip had him wondering. Had she ascended again? If so, why and how? She certainly wouldn’t have been able to cultivate in the body she had been in. If she had been appointed by someone else, then why not tell her about it, why leave her stranded in some woods? None of it made sense yet, but perhaps it would by the time he could ask her more questions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian noticed her before she did him. He had been stepping from tree branch to tree branch to have a better overview, and found her rather quickly. Shi Qingxuan looked so utterly out of place in the woods, with her hair done up nicely and her beautiful robes dragging in the dirt. She was currently looking at a tree and the moss growing on it as if she could somehow ascertain the direction she needed to go in. But then she sighed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hell if I know what the stupid moss even means!,” she exclaimed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to chuckle, finally drawing her attention.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness!,” she shouted, running towards him just as he jumped down, and immediately tackled him into a hug. “You came, you came, you came!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course I did,” Xie Lain awkwardly pat her back. “Did you contact anyone else?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… I didn’t know who,” she sighed, pulling back. “My brother well… And Ming- He Xuan… Oh I just didn’t know who else. I knew that I could trust you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt oddly touched that he was one of the first to have been called. Suddenly he felt the urge to proclaim his engagement and share the news with his best friend but the situation hardly called for it. There were more important things at the moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please, can you tell me what happened?,” he asked, motioning for her to walk by his side. Together they made their way back to the shrine a lot more slowly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… I really don’t know much,” she confessed with a sigh. “I was walking down that same alley that I always did, you know, making sure everyone was alright. I blacked out suddenly, I think I got hit on the head…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She reached back and rubbed where she had been hit, but the spot seemed fine now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think I woke up once… But it was really dark. Or was it under the stars…? Oh I just don’t remember!,” she stamped her foot in frustration, but suddenly something came to Xie Lian’s mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you still have the fan? Can you use it?,” he asked, having felt some spiritual energy in her body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh!” She stopped suddenly, rummaging through her sash, her robes, her pockets, but ultimately coming up empty. “But I had it! Where did it go…?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Maybe… maybe we can find it,” Xie Lian mused, scratching his chin. “San Lang taught me a new array. You have some spiritual abilities, if you can use it, maybe we can find it. And with it perhaps whatever happened to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A new array?,” Shi Qingxuan walked a bit closer, and took his arm in her own. “Crimson Rain Sought Flower, hm?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She glanced at his hand, seeing the red string there and grinned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So the two of you are still together?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Y-Yes of course,” he stammered, feeling heat flush into his cheeks. Being with Hua Cheng was one thing, talking about it with someone another entirely. “He- He just left though.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh what a shame, I would have liked to see how the two of you are together, all domestic and such,” she winked up at him, and he pointedly looked away to cough a little.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There… There is something else,” he admitted very quietly, but thinking that he should warn her ahead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There- uhm- a little boy. Tao Min,” he said very quickly, stumbling over his words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“HE GOT YOU PREGNANT?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?! No!,” he shouted quickly. “Why does everyone-?! No! We adopted him. He- He died, but remained, so we’re taking care of him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ohhhhh!” She laughed heartily at that. “A ghost child, hm? How strange. But not too strange for the two of you, I would say.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s…. A good point, actually,” Xie Lian replied nervously. “He’s really very sweet though, I am sure that you will like him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh what I wouldn’t give to see Crimson Rain Sought Flower taking care of a little boy. Maybe one day!,” she said happily, but her smile froze. “That is if this… this situation remains this way.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian could understand her hesitation. Seeing this happen so suddenly, he couldn’t help but feel that something sinister was afoot, despite her now - being like this - was a good thing. The Wind Master still had temples in the world, they hadn’t been destroyed despite what Xie Lian thought He Xuan may do. If she was truly a god again, then her power would still grow, she had a chance to go back to what she was. Minus a brother and a friend.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was bittersweet, to say the least.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But in true Wind Master fashion, she didn’t let it show. Instead she got excited about meeting the young boy a god and a ghost king had adopted together, and practically ran into the shrine when they finally made it there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Xiao-Min, is it?,” she called out, then froze in her steps. “Oh my what is this gaudy statue?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She turned, grinning at Xie Lian who felt himself blush once more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is that supposed to be you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The villagers pooled their money…,” he trailed off. “It was a kind gesture.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I suppose it was,” Shi Qingxuan replied, her smile never fading. “So, where is he?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh yes, Ah-Min?,” he called out, walking to the side room he had just been in. He hadn’t been in the yard, so there weren’t many other places he could be. “Do you want to meet a new friend?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A friend?,” a strange voice came from inside the room as the door was pushed open and a tall, handsome young man pushed past him to stand in front of Shi Qingxuan. “A lady!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian felt panic rise in his chest. Who was he?! Where did he come from and where was Tao Min?! He rushed into the room, but seeing it empty searched the main room and looked out into the yard again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What did you do with Ah-Min?!,” he demanded of the man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wait…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Golden eyes, that chin length dark hair. The clothes…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But papa, it’s me!,” what was apparently an adult sized Tao Min exclaimed. He giggled and went to hug him, catching Xie Lian by surprise. All he could do was stand there awkwardly. Tao Min was almost as tall as Hua Cheng!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And suddenly, he was lifted up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look how strong I am now!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aaahhhh, Ah-Min, set me down please,” he blurted out in a panic, and was promptly set down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I thought you said child,” Shi Qingxuan had raised an eyebrow, hand on her chest as she walked closer to Tao Min. Her hand wandered to his chin, fingers gently lifting it up as she inspected him. “He doesn’t look like a child at all.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Lady Wind Master he is FIVE</em>,” Xie Lian said quickly, pushing away her hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh really?!,” she stepped away, and Xie Lian took a deep breath. “But then…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang… he was teaching him to take on other forms,” Xie Lian sighed, really taking his son in now. “He was not supposed to grow himself by this much!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min looked a little bashful upon hearing it. But he had really done an impressive job, getting better and more realistic by the day. Hair, he was really good now, and every strand felt very silky between his fingers as he inspected it. The eyes seemed a little dry, and his hands a little smooth, but this was impressive nonetheless. Not that he expected anything different from him at this point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But I don’t wanna be small anymore,” Tao Min whined. Despite his appearance, he was still mentally a five year old. “I wanna go with you and tall papa on adventures!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tall papa…?,” Shi Qingxuan muttered to herself. “Does that mean… small?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She pointed at Xie Lian, who blushed a deeper shade of red.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, I’m the small one,” he grumbled under his breath, but then took Tao Min’s hand to sit him down. Shi Qingxuan followed quickly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who is this lady?,” Tao Min asked, leaning closer rather rudely. “Whoa, so pretty.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan sat a little straighter and preened.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is Shi Qingxuan,” Xie Lian told him. “A very good friend of mine.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Shi Qing- Shi Qing-,” Tao Min frowned, trying his best.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh don’t you worry, you can call me ‘Jiejie’,” Shi Qingxuan winked at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, Jiejie!” Tao Min beamed, finally having someone he could call such a thing. “Like tall papa calls papa ‘Gege’!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Not quite like that…</em>, Xie Lian thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why did papa call her ‘Lady Wind Master?,” Tao Min asked. His curiosity knew no bounds, and the longer he was with the two of them, the more comfortable he had become asking whatever came to his mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, her powers, I mean- She used to be able to control the wind,” Xie Lian explained.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Used to? You can’t anymore?,” Tao Min asked without any tact, and Shi Qingxuan looked away, crossing her arms. She really looked a little odd without her fan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We don’t know,” Xie Lian said quickly. “She might be able to after all. But we have to find her fan.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh you know!,” Tao Min suddenly sat up, holding out his hand and shoving it full of fire towards Shi Qingxuan, who flinched back, bumping against the wall behind her. “I can do fire!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What- What?” She looked as confused as Xie Lian had been the first time, seeing this happen. “You said he’s five. He died. He made this body. He can even conjure fire?! What exactly <em>is</em> he?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, well, you see, he is… unique,” Xie Lian finished lamely. When Tao Min tilted his head questioningly, he added: “Special.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A wide smile spread on his face. A proud little boy, suddenly not so little anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Turning to Shi Qingxuan, he continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The creature that caused his death seems to have transferred some of his power to Tao Min when he died and remained. That is the only way I can explain it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A transfer…,” she looked away, thoughtful for a moment. “Could that be what happened to me? But… I was unconscious.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tao Min did not do it consciously either. It is a possibility. Perhaps if we find the fan, we know more.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan nodded, and stood, determined. Together they drew the array, Xie Lian having studied it after using it for the first time, fascinated by the things Hua Cheng had come up with. It hadn’t been the only array or spell, and together he had learned most of them. His husband-to-be was certainly impressive.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Husband-to-be. The mere thought made him smile, and he had to turn away to hide it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He focused instead on the array and guiding Shi Qingxuan to use it, just like Hua Cheng had done with him. He followed her mind outside the shrine, feeling it gently tug him along and flying far, further than when he had used it and his head felt dizzy from the sensation. Gripping her hands tightly, he made sure to feed her a steady stream of spiritual energy, to keep her grounded and the spell going. It was evident to him that when they did find the fan, she would easily be able to use it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There,” she exclaimed, almost jolting out of the array, but Xie Lian still held her down. “A cave? I… How could this be where I was, there aren’t any stars?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We will see when we get there,” Xie Lian said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Together they went through the uncomfortable sensation of their minds being rapidly pulled back, slamming into their bodies so hard it made them both fall over. Tao Min was right there to check up on him, golden eyes filled with worry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m alright, Ah-Min,” he said gently, petting his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where are we going a cave is it exciting can I come I wanna come please please papa can I come?,” Tao Min rattled off, so excited he forgot all his punctuation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It could be dangerous… We should bring you to Ghost City.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nooo, I wanna come, pleaseeee,” Tao Min whined. “It’s just a cave! I want to help, I can make the light!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes of course you can come!,” Shi Qingxuan suddenly blurted out, and immediately was engulfed in a hug by Tao Min, pressing his cheek to hers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you, Jiejie!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes of course, anything for sweet Xiao-Min.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lady Wind Master,” Xie Lian said sternly, or at least trying to sound and look stern while still on the floor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?! How could you say no to this face?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He let out a long, deep sigh of his very soul. How could he say no indeed? It was impossible. The boy was becoming too powerful, using his sweetness as a weapon.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Very well, Ah-Min can come,” Xie Lian said, standing up and dusting off his robes. “But if anything happens, remember the shield we practised, and go hide in it, alright?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min nodded eagerly. When he stood he stumbled a little, seemingly unused to this sudden change in height and generally longer limbs. He still helped up Shi Qingxuan who had evidently decided she would dote on the boy. She made sure all his clothes were right and proper, dusting them off too, before they stood together to draw yet another array.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Distance Shortening Array had been slightly modified, a work by Hua Cheng and Xie Lian working together, so that it could open a portal even where there wasn’t a doorway. As the cave appeared to be in some kind of wilderness, they had to use a bit more spiritual power to use it. But that wasn’t a problem for Xie Lian, not anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The writing glowed and shifted as Xie Lian pictured the cave that they had seen, into a ball of pure light that slowly spread on the floor he had drawn upon. A thin sliver of it shot up, then widened into a doorway that they could step through and onto soft grass. Shi Qingxuan followed gracefully, while Tao Min stepped forward - and promptly fell onto his face. This new body… He definitely hadn’t had time to get used to it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian turned around quickly, pulling him from the now closing portal to save his foot from being sliced off.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah-Min!,” he was about to scold him, when Tao Min looked up with his nose reddened and tears welling up in his eyes. When had he learned to do that? But the pitiful look made him unable to be stern with him. Instead he pulled him in his arms and rubbed his back. “Shh, it’s okay, Ah-Min. You’re alright.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It hurts!”, Tao Min wailed, crying and sniffling for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There, there,” Shi Qingxuan knelt by their side and pulled a silk handkerchief from her sleeve. When the boy looked at her, she let it softly slide over his hurt nose. “It takes away all pain. I can give it to you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really?,” Tao Min’s eyes widened and his tears were suddenly forgotten. He gingerly took the handkerchief - the one that didn’t radiate any kind of energy - like it was a precious treasure. “Jiejie is so kind.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As Tao Min was busy inspecting the piece of cloth, Shi Qingxuan winked at Xie Lian - who had to smile. A bit of a white lie, he could let that one slide.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah-Min, I really think you should turn back now,” Xie Lian said gently, but found the boy pouting again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But I wanna be tall…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’ll be tall eventually,” he replied, hand continuing to soothingly pet his son. “But see, you can’t even sit in my lap like this. And I can’t carry someone so tall either.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min seemed to be conflicted for a while. He loved to be held and carried,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’ll grow up soon enough. Don’t skip all the things you’ll experience on the way.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, papa,” Tao Min sighed softly, and closed his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two of them watched as his form shimmered and glossed over with a fiery sheen, obscuring him from view. It then shifted and shrank, slowly going back to the form that Xie Lian knew of him. When the sheen vanished, little Tao Min had returned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan let out a squeal.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh how adorable little Didi is!,” she exclaimed, pulling him close into a hug. Tao Min just giggled in reply, letting her carry him as she stood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian could only agree.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With Tao Min now being carried they made their way through this thick forest. In the distance they could already see the outline of a mountain, harsh rock that cut through the forest, pushing trees aside. They walked until they saw the gaping maw of the cave they had seen through their vision, where their steps slowed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Carefully making their way inside, Shi Qingxuan’s voice echoed slightly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness has not been able to stop smiling for some time now. Are you that happy to have me back?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was dark, but Xie Lian could still see her smirk. And shortly after it was lit up by a small flame in a small hand, lighting their way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course I am,” he replied truthfully. “But there is also something else.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The cave turned out to be a long, winding tunnel that they followed. At least they could not get lost, but how deep was the mountain?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, what is it? Don’t keep this humble master waiting.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to chuckle at her words, and his hand wandered up on its own, where he gazed on the thread around his finger. His smile widened.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang proposed marriage to me.” He felt so giddy saying it, it was as if his face was about to split from smiling this wide. How could he possibly convey in mere words this happiness that he was feeling?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Crimson Rain Sought Flower?,” Shi Qingxuan seemed almost as excited as himself. “You said yes, didn’t you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course,” he replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I helped!,” Tao Min proclaimed very proudly. “I took papa to see tall papa’s secret!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh I wish I could have been there,” Shi Qingxuan sighed. “It was romantic, wasn’t it?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh yes,” Xie Lian sighed with her. “He had gotten even more lanterns than last year, they were so beautiful. And they all turned red, it was like a sea of light.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan’s eyes sparkled, almost the way the lanterns had.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh how lucky. I always wished Ming Yi-,” she stopped herself, blushing. Her steps slowed, and she looked down. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s alright.” Xie Lian put a hand on her shoulder. “I know you cared for him greatly.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan sighed again, looking past him. She was quiet for some time, in which Xie Lian didn’t know what to say. What could be said in this situation? No words could convey his happiness, and there were no words for this kind of grief. She had lost a brother and a friend at once. Perhaps something more, going by her words.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s here,” Shi Qingxuan said breathlessly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He turned and now saw that the tunnel had ended and opened into a larger cave, the one from their vision. To one side was a black glistening pool of water, but beyond that was a raised stone slab, too perfect to have been created naturally. It was about the size of a person, and sitting slightly on the left side, was a very familiar fan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian held out an arm to stop them from following him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Take care of Tao Min for me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She nodded, and Xie Lian strode towards the fan. There didn’t seem to be anything else in this cave, but about mid way he stopped in his tracks. Above him, the cave suddenly opened up. The sky was clearly visible here, and it would have been what Shi Qingxuan had seen, waking up on that stone slab. The view of stars at night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What had been done here? And why leave the fan behind? Perhaps it was an accident, and it wasn’t meant to remain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Not sensing anything amiss, Xie Lian reached out for it. But strange, how he could not have sensed the spell as it activated, a shimmering blue field around the fan. Rippling, like water on a still lake when a stone had been thrown. He pulled back his hand, watching the ripples merge right in front of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Suddenly there was a wet sound, a sound of fabric ripping and flesh tearing. When Xie Lian looked down, there was only red.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The spell. Right through him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“YOUR HIGHNESS!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Papa</em>!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His legs were numbing, and he stumbled. As his head hit the floor he fought against the darkness that threatened to overwhelm him. Lifting his head, he saw the state of his stomach, and felt like he had been here before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan set down Tao Min, then rushed all the way to him, falling to her knees.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh no, no, no, no it was a trap why did you run into it?!,” she blurt out, hands frantically gesturing. “I don’t know what to do, Your Highness, I don’t know what to do!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Didn’t sense anything,” he said, feeling weakness overtake him. This wound was bleeding far too much. “I… I’ll be alright.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Papa,” Tao Min cried out, his small legs had now carried him over too. Xie Lian tried to raise his hand, to tell Shi Qingxuan to stop him. He shouldn’t see this. But it was too late and he felt too weak, as if all his strength had been sapped by the spell.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min’s eyes widened. The handkerchief, the one he had still been holding, he put it over the wound. It was soaked immediately.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It won’t hurt anymore,” Tao Min cried.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian forced himself to smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you,” he said breathlessly. “Ah-Min is so kind, taking away the pain.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But his insides were still agony. He had been through his share of pain, it shouldn’t hurt this much, with such a wound his body should be shutting off this intense pain. Instead it was amplified with every single breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness, I don’t have much spiritual power, whatever is doing this I can’t stop it oh by the heavens there’s so much blood!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San… San Lang,” he whispered. He didn’t know how, but he knew that Hua Cheng would be able to help him. Hua Cheng could do anything. And in the depths of his mind, a thought was forming. About who had done this, made this trap. Someone that Hua Cheng was familiar with.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, yes, of course! How do we get him here oh!,” she grabbed Tao Min’s small arm as the idea came to her. “Communication Array, I can use it! What’s his password?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If he had any blood to spare, he would blush. But in this case, there was no way of getting around it. He couldn’t focus enough to contact Hua Cheng, all he could do was focus on not passing out. Somehow he knew that if he did, this spell would take over, and he was afraid of what that meant.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“‘H-Hua Cheng’,” he started, his voice so low, Shi Qingxuan had to lean down to hear him. “‘His Highness’ most… most dev…’”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Most what?,” Shi Qingxuan urged him on, but Xie Lian could only swallow. This thing was paralysing him and he was getting scared.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Most devout believer!,” Tao Min blurted out. “That’s what tall papa said! When he proposed!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh. Oh by the heavens he loves you so much,” Shi Qingxuan caught herself quickly, looking away as she mentally sent a message to Hua Cheng. “He will be right here please hang on!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s not like he could die, Xie Lian thought. Not from blood loss. Not usually, anyway. Whatever was working in his body, he wasn’t sure right now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was an odd feeling, thinking that death could get to him after all. But when his finger was lifted, the finger that had the thread around it, he didn’t feel so scared anymore. Hua Cheng was tugging on it, looking for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The voice made Xie Lian’s heart skip a beat. As long as Hua Cheng was here, as long as his love came back to him everything would be alright.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he whispered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had expected Hua Cheng to be surprised by the state of him, to be worried even. But what he had not expected was to see sheer terror reflected on his face. He had rushed through the cave to get to him, but now he was frozen in place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“S-San Lang…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why wasn’t he doing anything?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No,” Hua Cheng gasped, sinking to his knees. His hands were shaking as he reached out to Xie Lian.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Crim- Hua Cheng,” Shi Qingxuan leaned towards him urgently. “I don’t have any spiritual energy, not enough to stop this. You have to <em>do</em> something!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tears started to fill Xie Lian’s eyes as he looked up at his husband-to-be, who only stared, who didn’t move. Why did he stare like this at the wound in his stomach? The fear for his own life hadn’t returned, but now there was a fear for Hua Cheng. Just a while ago he had seen vulnerability, now he saw fear, no, terror. He wanted to help him, wanted to lift his hand so desperately to tell his love that everything was going to be okay. Instead, he could only weakly call his name.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tall papa?,” Tao Min still was so damn small, even next to a kneeling Hua Cheng. “I don’t want papa to die.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Very slowly Hua Cheng turned his head to the boy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My parents already died, please, save papa.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian almost watched in slow motion as Hua Cheng swallowed. His hand, as if in a trance, came to Tao Min’s cheek. Then suddenly he was in motion, turning back to Xie Lian to press his hand to his stomach, first removing the blood drenched handkerchief. A sudden warmth spread through Xie Lian’s body, and he could feel his legs again. With a great deal of spiritual energy, the spell was removed from his body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As Hua Cheng released it by his side, water fell from his hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan stared at it, wide eyed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Hua Cheng continued to pour energy into him, closing his wound so that the worst was over, so that he could feel himself and walk again. Hua Cheng also took off his outer robe, ripping it in a way that he could wrap it around the wound to keep it from opening again. Then he very gently helped Xie Lian to sit up, resting against him as he got used to the shift in position, which made his head swim a little.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Black Water,” Xie Lian whispered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“W-what is he up to? Did he follow me, to kill me?,” Shi Qingxuan asked. “Wasn’t losing everything enough?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If he did, he would have killed you already,” Xie Lian whispered. Talking still seemed to take a lot of his focus.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>I’m</em> going to kill him,” Hua Cheng hissed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he reached out to cup his cheek. “We don’t know what he’s planning yet. The trap… It wasn’t meant for me. It wasn’t supposed to hurt anyone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you mean?,” Shi Qingxuan asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I didn’t sense anything because you were nearby,” Xie Lian explained. “You were supposed to just take it. No one else.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You- You don’t expect me to go there and take it?! What if you’re wrong.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He is not,” Hua Cheng said hoarsely.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tall papa said papa is always right,” Tao Min, helpful as ever, said proudly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan looked at him for a while. Then suddenly burst out laughing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well if Xiao-Min says so.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll come with you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy stood and walked over to her, taking her hand and ‘helping’ her up. Together they walked up to the fan, and Shi Qingxuan stared at it nervously. But eventually they watched as she leaned down, her hand very, very slowly extending and shaking somewhat. And then… it grasped the fan. A burst of sudden wind blew back her hair, and she stepped back in a panic at first.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then her face changed. From fear to glee. She twisted around, twirling the fan elegantly, and a rush of air shot past Hua Cheng and Xie Lian, smashing into the wall where it exploded in a shower of rocks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I feel- I feel incredible,” she called out, laughing. Her spinning continued, trying out the fan in more and more complicated manoeuvres, with a small boy cheering her on. Only after a while, when her gaze fell on Xie Lian again did she compose herself and walked over. “Eherm, I mean… It’s like something was blocked but now. Now I can feel all this energy again. It’s how I used to be.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s wonderful,” Xie Lian said with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But we should get you back, you need to rest.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian more than agreed. Hua Cheng carried him in his arms, going back to where they had come out of the array. Snuggling in them, he left it to the others to get them back, resting his eyes a little as his mind still reeled with the way he had seen Hua Cheng just moments ago. Once he had gotten a bit of sleep, he would need to talk to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He hadn’t realised that he had passed out until he was woken again. Seeing nothing for a while, he felt hand on his stomach, pressing uncomfortably on the wound, but not hard enough to make him cry out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Stop, why can’t they stop?,” it was Hua Cheng’s voice. Panicked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang?” He felt utterly confused, couldn’t bring himself to speak louder. His eyes were still adjusting to the darkness. Was this Puqi Shrine? Why not Paradise Manor?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please stop, you’re hurting him,” the voice continued, and finally Xie Lian could see him. Seemingly half asleep, hair a mess, sounding so, so scared. “It’s all over him, so much blood why can’t I DO anything?! Let me go!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It suddenly hit him. Xie Lian sat up with some difficulty, his stomach still troubling him. But he held onto Hua Cheng’s hands on it, keeping them in place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang it’s over,” he told him. “They’re not hurting me anymore, there’s no more blood.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Realising what this was about, tears started to fill his eyes. That night in the temple had haunted him all his life, and many of his nightmares were filled with the pain of getting stabbed over and over and over again. Hua Cheng had been there every time to calm him down, so Xie Lian had never realised how much it had also hurt <em>him</em>. He had <em>been</em> there, a mere ghost flame, made to watch, unable to stop it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he tried to sound calm, but the tears were rolling down his cheeks. “Please look at me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He reached out, Hua Cheng’s hands still on his stomach, as if he could protect him. Or shove back in what had been mangled almost beyond repair. Cupping his cheeks, he made sure that Hua Cheng was looking at him. It took a while, gentle words, and a bit of firmness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” Hua Cheng gasped hoarsely. “I’m- I- I’m sorry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But at least he seemed to recognise again where he was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s no need for that,” he whispered in reply. “Come here, let me hold you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng’s body was shaking as he drew him in, held him close, his face in the crook of Xie Lian’s neck. What other words were there to say? There was nothing that would make what happened ever be okay. They could only be there for each other.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When he felt something wet on his neck, Xie Lian only wished so badly that it had been only him. Only him who had to go through it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Before he even knew it himself, he was humming to Hua Cheng in his arms. Somewhere from the deep recesses of his mind, a melody that was so old, but still familiar. It conjured images of his mother to him, holding him in her arms so long ago. And from somewhere, words followed the melody.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His heart ached from the memory, and the sadness of the man in his arms. But the soothing words calmed his body, and hopefully his mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They stayed like this for a long time. Xie Lian’s stomach still ached, the wound not completely healed. A small price to pay for his husband-to-be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When his words had faded and Hua Cheng had calmed, he still clung to him. Eventually what tears there were faded, and he whispered another apology against his neck. Slowly and gently, Xie Lian guided them both to lie on their sides. Hua Cheng did not want to show his face, instead burying it in his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No apologies,” he whispered. “I am only sorry that I never realised San Lang was this affected. Did this… happen before?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes,” Hua Cheng replied hoarsely. “Not this bad but seeing… Seeing this I-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s okay, shh,” Xie Lian kissed the top of his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It is not. What if I had not reacted in time. What if Gege had-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I didn’t. San Lang made sure of that,” Xie Lian said quickly. “We rely on each other, remember?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally, Hua Cheng looked up. The sight broke his heart all over again. How exhausted he looked, how utterly crushed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I only ever wanted to be strong enough to protect His Highness,” he said softly, one hand coming to rest on Xie Lian’s cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’ve done so much for me. Been through so much for me. I am grateful but at the same time I wish- I wish you never had to go through any of it.” He inched even closer, arm around Hua Cheng. “But we are here. Now. You <em>are</em> strong enough. But even the strongest need some help. Let me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He didn’t know if his words got through to him. Not yet, not completely. But Hua Cheng drew him in for a kiss, a desperate one that they shared for quite some time. Then Xie Lian drew him closer again, though neither got much sleep that night. He was too busy worrying about the man in his arms, while Hua Cheng’s body still shuddered every so often.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When the sun started to warm their room, illuminating it in a strangely comforting glow, it still felt that there were things unsaid between them. Eventually Hua Cheng sat up, the sun that came in behind them illuminated his raven black hair. His face was obscured. Xie Lian tried to sit up too, but winced audibly. Hua Cheng turned to him quickly to push him back down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege needs to rest.” He looked a little better, but seemed to avoid looking at the blood soaked robes. “Let… Let me get a change of clothes for you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As he stood Xie Lian quickly undressed, rubbing off what blood still remained on his body. At some point he had been properly bandaged. Hua Cheng seemed to want to scold him for doing this without his help, but his eye only narrowed briefly before he helped him get into a much lighter robe. Then he was gently but firmly pressed back down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you,” Xie Lian smiled at him, and caressed his cheek. “Does San Lang feel a little better?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mnm.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Does San Lang want to come back to bed with me?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Slowly those beautiful lips curled into a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Always, Gege. But we have some thinking to do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh yes! How long was I out, where are Tao Min and Wind Master?,” he asked. The urge to sit up again was strong but under Hua Cheng’s stern gaze he did not dare. Bed rest it was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sleeping in the other room,” Hua Cheng replied. He paused for a moment, and Xie Lian saw his ear twitch. He thought it was the most adorable thing when it did that. “Cooking now. You were out for a bit more than a day.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That spell really was something,” Xie Lian sighed. “He Xuan protected the fan so that only Shi Qingxuan could take it. Why not give it to her directly?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I do not think he wishes to show his face,” Hua Cheng said. “I left to look for him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You suspected it was him right away?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mnm. But I could not be sure. He’s hard to find. Yin Yu is on it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to smile. During the time they had been at Paradise Manor, Yin Yu seemed to be around rather often. And despite Hua Cheng’s way with words when he spoke to him, he never sent him away - unless it was on errands. He had certainly warmed up to Tao Min, and tended to wear his mask around them less frequently. If Xie Lian suspected that he could almost be called a friend.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s very kind,” Xie Lian pointed out. Hua Cheng seemed a little surprised.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He is a good servant,” Hua Cheng said instead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think he’s a bit more than that by now, isn’t he?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng blinked at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tao Min likes him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to chuckle. Alright, if he did not want to admit he had made a friend, he wouldn’t press the matter.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A very soft knock on the door made them both turn, and Hua Cheng swiftly stood to put on a robe. At times it seemed to Xie Lian that he wished to hide, and he wondered why. Was this part of his worries? Part of those that had made him doubt Xie Lian would say yes to him?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Apologies for intruding,” Shi Qingxuan opened the door, holding a tray. Right in front of her was Tao Min, who had knocked and now rushed towards Xie Lian. “Xiao-Min helped me make a little breakfast.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Papa, papa,” Tao Min stopped at the side of his bed, reaching out to his chest. “Are you better now?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am,” Xie Lian reached out to caress his cheek. Such a sweet boy. But in his belt was something red that was tucked away. He frowned and reached for it. The blood soaked handkerchief. There had been an attempt to clean it. “Ah-Min this…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was suddenly snatched out of his hand, by Hua Cheng! He looked at it with such disdain, but Tao Min cried out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hey!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s no good,” Hua Cheng grumbled, his hand curling into a fist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But it’s special, it takes pain away!,” Tao Min insisted. He was about to cry out again as Hua Cheng used a small flame to burn it away, but Xie Lian drew him closer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah-Min, it’s okay. Wind Master can get you a new one, okay? This one it… It could only be used twice.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, I didn’t know,” he said softly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian sighed, glancing briefly at Shi Qingxuan. If only he could explain Hua Cheng’s behaviour. But revealing a vulnerability, a weakness? He could not do that. For now she had to remain as confused as she looked. Anything that reminded Hua Cheng of that day, it had to go.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Here,” Shi Qingxuan put the tray in Xie Lian’s lap, after he had sat up a little. “It’s not much. Actually, Xiao-Min did most of this.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a very simple breakfast. Some broth, some rice, and a little bit of dried meat. But after the day before, Xie Lian was famished, and quickly stuffed himself. Naturally he had to make sure to praise the two. The way they smiled at him was adorably similar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min decided to climb on the bed. It was a simple one, not very high off the ground but he still struggled a little. His leg hanging in the air, kicking against nothing before it found purchase on the wood of the frame. Xie Lian had every confidence he could do it himself, and eventually he did, sitting by his side. Shi Qingxuan joined him at the foot of the bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry this happened because of me,” she said quietly. “You’ll be alright, won’t you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course,” Xie Lian gave her a smile. “What about you? How does Wind Master feel?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looked down at her hands, and pulled the fan from her belt, twirling it around a few times.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s like everything is back the way it was.” But she did not sound too happy. “I sneaked into the communication array. I can do it again, I heard them all. I… I wanted to say something. But how could I? When… Black Water is involved.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How is it possible…,” Xie Lian muttered more to himself. “If someone appointed you in secret, well that would hardly make any sense. There are a lot of gods that would like to see you return.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What if it was him?,” Shi Qingxuan whispered. “To let me taste it just to take it away again?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang, you know him best. Would he be this cruel? And still… How…?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“By taking it from someone else,” Hua Cheng said, back to them and looking out the window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?!,” Shi Qingxuan said sharply. “He wouldn’t. Not after what my brother did to him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He was following you,” Hua Cheng continued. Xie Lian watched as Shi Qingxuan paled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So it’s true. He’s- He’s playing some kind of game. I knew it couldn’t have been over.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We don’t know that yet,” Xie Lian reached out to take her hand in his. “San Lang is looking for him. It’s just a matter of time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And then what?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We find out exactly what happened. And I’ll protect you,” he told her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh Your Highness,” she sighed. “I really don’t know how I deserve this kindness from you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We are friends, isn’t that enough?” He smiled reassuringly at her, and slowly she returned it. She squeezed his hand tightly, and for a moment everything was quiet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I will return to help Yin Yu,” Hua Cheng eventually broke the silence. He turned to Xie Lian. “Keep resting. You will be safe here.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En, okay, San Lang.” He paused for a moment, glancing at Shi Qingxuan, then back at Hua Cheng. “Come back if… you need anything.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A smile finally returned to Hua Cheng’s face, and Xie Lian’s heart sighed in relief.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I will, Gege.” It seemed as if he were about to lean down to kiss Xie Lian, whose heart skipped at the thought. But instead he picked up Tao Min, holding him close. “Let us see if Jian Lan has time. Min-er needs to be safe too.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, okay,” Tao Min said. He was evidently a bit confused by the strange mood in the room. The only thing he could do was nod. “Bye papa, bye Jiejie.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They waved goodbye and soon enough it was just the two of them. Shi Qingxuan looked down, playing with the edge of the blanket that was covering Xie Lian’s foot. Perhaps a distraction was in order. At the moment there was little that they could do anyway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We were… interrupted last time. I… What do you think of me marrying San Lang?,” Xie Lian asked carefully.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh it’s wonderful!,” she looked up, smiling, as if that was all it took for her worries to go away. “I’m really happy for Your Highness.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He let out a small sigh of relief.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We haven’t exactly planned it yet but I was thinking of telling Mu Qing and Feng Xin.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh that’s not going to go well,” she replied, raising an eyebrow.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know. But I… I really wish that they would come. And you, of course.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course I will be there! And they will too, I’m sure. With a bit of our convincing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Our?,” Xie Lian asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes! No offence, Your Highness, but you really need someone to help you plan this wedding.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I…,” he trailed off, realising that this was absolutely true. What did he know about weddings? Planning one, especially. Had he married as the crown prince, everything would have been done for him. “Where do we start?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How about… do you know what you will wear? You can’t wear these old robes,” she pointed to the discarded, bloody white robes to the side. He would have to scrub these for a long time to get the stain out. Mentally, he was already sighing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I do have another set,” Xie Lian pointed out, making them both laugh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright then, shopping it is. Get dressed while this Master draws a Distance Shortening Array.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian did so slowly, re-doing the bandages around his waist. The pain wasn’t too bad, and if he didn’t start running anywhere, he would be fine. All they had to do was not tell Hua Cheng about this. Shi Qingxuan offered her arm for him to take, which he gladly accepted as they stepped through the door and into a bustling city. It seemed familiar, but then most places where he had collected scraps over the years did. It was colourful and lively, bringing a smile to his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“As expected from Lady Wind Master,” he commented, and she grinned, pulling him close.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Careful now, Your Highness, we don’t want you to get run over by anyone. But I know this lovely seamstress that will create something stunning for you. Ah I’m sure you’ll be so gorgeous in red!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, I don’t know about that…” He trailed off, thinking of the first time he had met Hua Cheng. Back then he had been wearing wedding robes too, only they did not fit all that well, and Feng Xin and Mu Qing had made it abundantly clear that they would rather look anywhere else but at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, I for one am absolutely sure. Your Highness, do you even realise how beautiful you are?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“W-what? Beautiful?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am sure Crimson Rain Sought Flower would agree,” she said, winking at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, in that she would be right. Hua Cheng had been the only one to call him beautiful. When they were alone, when they were intimate… Xie Lian had to quickly steer his thoughts into a different direction, lest it became very visible how inappropriate such thoughts were.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He instead took in the city around them. The sun was high up in the sky, its rays warming them thoroughly. Young men who were working on fixing the roof of a building across the street had taken off their shirts, nearby girls were giggling at the sight before they rushed off. From all over came the voices of street vendors, of a man inviting them to the nearby tea house, of a woman asking if he wouldn’t want to buy some jewelry for his wife. The two stopped every now and then, not bothering to correct or actually buy anything, simply taking their time to enjoy the day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian felt a little weak by the time they arrived at a more quiet street, where they finally stopped. The shop Shi Qingxuan apparently knew was small, and a lot less glamorous than he expected. A small bell rang when they opened the door, and Shi Qingxuan guided him to sit on a free stool, looking a little concerned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m alright, just need to take a small rest,” Xie Lian reassured her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lady Wind Master,” a melodious voice came from behind them. It belonged to a short young man with pitch black hair through which a single white streak ran, pulled up into a messy bun with several needles sticking from it. He wore a sleeveless vest, crossing his arms as he smirked at her. Then his gaze fell on Xie Lian. “It’s been some time. I see you brought a friend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He bowed gracefully to Xie Lian, who tried to return it as best he could.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He… knows?,” Xie Lian whispered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh yes,” Shi Qingxuan bowed too. “Zhou Yan is a fox spirit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“A… a fox spirit?,” Xie Lian swallowed. It definitely explained his beauty.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zhou Yan ignored him, first approaching Shi Qingxuan, pacing around her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, my favourite form to work on. How I missed it!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan evidently enjoyed the attention, grinning at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m afraid I’m not here today for myself,” she said, gesturing to Xie Lian again. “His Highness, the crown prince Xie Lian is getting married.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Married?,” Zhou Yan immediately turned to him, a streak of hair falling from his bun. He was by his side in two steps, the front part of this shop being rather small with only a counter and two stools to sit on. “How wonderful! You came to just the right place.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He took Xie Lian’s chin and made him look up, then turned his head left and right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Beautiful. Absolutely stunning oh I have ideas pouring in already!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a rather sweet scent to the young man - no, as a fox spirit he was most likely rather old. But the scent was alluring, so that Xie Lian found himself a little nervous. Before he could further think on what it was fox spirits did and why this one had become a tailor, he was suddenly pulled up, and winced.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh be careful!,” Shi Qingxuan blurted out. “His Highness is injured.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, my apologies. Please follow me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian thought it was a bit too much, having both of them take his arms to help him walk behind the counter and into a much larger room. But he was distracted before he could tell them so. This room was lined with high shelves, upon which rested rolls of fabric, all different kinds, colours, materials, arranged so that it was like looking at a rainbow. He was led before three mirrors, attached to one another, and another stool given to him so he could sit. For now he didn’t take up the offer, still marvelling at how much there was to see here.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“May I ask where the wound is?,” Zhou Yan was suddenly right in front of him again, startling Xie Lian.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, er, my stomach,” he replied, putting his hand on top of where it was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If Your Highness does not mind, I could help ease the pain. However, I do require skin contact. Nothing untoward of course, seeing as how you’re engaged.” He ended with a wink, and Xie Lian suddenly thought of very untoward things.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The sweet scent all of a sudden seemed a bit more intense. Xie Lian swallowed. He was in a bit of pain though…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I suppose… it would help with your work?,” Xie Lian sounded rather unsure even to himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zhou Yan’s smile widened, and Xie Lian could swear that he saw sharp canines. But then that smile dropped. Literally, as Zhou Yan went to his knees, and pushed open Xie Lian’s robes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What are you doing?!,” he blurted out, finding himself so shocked that he was rooted in place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Helping out,” Zhou Yan replied, voice low.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Why he was only watching, Xie Lian could not say. He merely watched in horror as Zhou Yan very carefully pulled apart the bandages over his wound, revealing the still somewhat mangled flesh. To his credit, Zhou Yan did not wince or pull back. He only leaned in… To press a kiss there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“<em>Oh</em>,” Xie Lian gasped.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It felt warm. Gentle. Comforting. Like something warm spread around him, soothing all pain and making his body relax. He hadn’t even realised how tense the pain and walking around with it had made him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There, much better.” Zhou Yan had adjusted the bandages again while Xie Lian had been overwhelmed, and stood.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“On your lip…,” Xie Lian said absentmindedly. There was still some blood there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But not after Zhou Yan had licked his lips. And grinned once more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Never mind…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt a little dazed for a moment, this strange spell still soothing him. Almost like some kind of drug, so he hoped that it did not have any other side effects. Zhou Yan and Shi Qingxuan were already chatting among themselves, drawing out different shades of red fabric, golden string and other golden accents. Xie Lian thought of wearing new wedding robes, of the actual wedding, of Hua Cheng.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“See, he’s smiling again,” Shi Qingxuan said. “He’s been doing that all day. Sickening, I tell you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zhou Yan sighed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What pure love this is,” he said wistfully. “I am honoured to be the one to create these robes… By the way, who is the other lucky groom?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah. You will surely know Crimson Rain Sought Flower?,” Shi Qingxuan asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh! A ghost king and a god? Star crossed lovers. Very romantic. This just gets better and better.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As he brought over scraps of fabrics and started putting them over Xie Lian, pinching them to his current clothes to roughly drape a robe around him, they continued to talk. Xie Lian could see his reflection smile a little dopey as he talked about his husband-to-be, about how they had met so long ago and only now found towards one another. How Hua Cheng had done so much for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And all of a sudden someone else was looking back at him. Someone beautiful. A true crown prince, ready for his wedding. Xie Lian had to blink a few times. Not quite ready yet, no, the robes had to be sewn together, but the way Zhou Yan had arranged pieces of fabric, it almost looked as if it was ready. And he hadn’t even needed to measure him. No wonder Shi Qingxuan had come here often.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whoa,” he breathed softly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Red looks wonderful on you, Your Highness,” Zhou Yan stood right beside him, helped lift his arm to show him the long sleeves. It was already so elegant. “I recommend some blush on the cheeks, maybe a red line under the eyes too.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh I’ll take care of that, don’t you worry,” Shi Qingxuan stood behind him on his other side, then leaned in to let her chin rest on his shoulder. “What does Your Highness think?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s… It’s… I don’t know what to say. It’s perfect.” His voice trembled a little, and he found himself tearing up. It all was just too much. Hua Cheng made him too happy, how could he bear it?!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course it is,” Zhou Yan stood up a little straighter, though it did not make him taller. He barely reached Xie Lian’s shoulder. “It will take me a few days to bring it all together.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I- Oh! I will have to ask San Lang for some money…,” he suddenly felt very awkward for having forgotten that such a thing existed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Nonsense,” Zhou Yan said quickly. “For true love, this comes at no fee.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But it must be such expensive material. The belt alone with the gold-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just take it,” Shi Qingxuan laughed. “He feeds off love, you know. And you just gave him the perfect meal.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Delicious,” Zhou Yan agreed. “You’re bursting with it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian thought of the spiritual energy transfer that happened when they made love, and wondered if Zhou Yan could sense it like that Taoist had back then. He watched himself in the mirror growing redder and redder in the cheeks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, I almost forgot,” Shi Qingxuan stood up straight again, walking towards a door further in the back. “We’ll have to see about the wedding night too. It’s this way, isn’t it?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zhou Yan agreed and quickly removed all the pieces of fabric from a very confused Xie Lian so that he could move freely once more. Wedding night? What did Shi Qingxuan mean? Surely there would be at least a small feast for those attending but- Wait.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wind Master what-,” Xie Lian had followed her into the next room, but once more froze in his tracks. “Oh. <em>OH</em>.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If he had been red before, his head had now assumed the colour of a tomato. Shi Qingxuan was already taking up a lacy set of panties from one table, inspecting the flower pattern on them. On one side was a sewing station where half made garments were placed, on the other were displays of finished ones. For women <em>and</em> men, it seemed. So much lace, so many straps, headless mannequins showing just how these were worn and what they accented. Xie Lian could not bear to look at it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No need to be shy!,” Zhou Yan had grabbed his arm again and pulled him into the room. Suddenly he was surrounded by all this… this lace. And his mind was racing in a thousand different directions. “So for wedding night, are we thinking red, too?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had picked up something that was meant to go over his chest, that literally just looked like a bunch of red streaks. How would one even put this on?!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Or… white?,” Zhou Yan continued, eyeing Xie Lian’s current robes. “I must say it certainly suits you, Your Highness.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I- I can’t! This isn’t- How does this even-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Like so,” the smaller man took what he was holding and put it on one of the mannequins. When he finished Xie Lian had to admit it looked rather… nice. And upon closer inspection there were delicate flowers in white and gold embroidered on it. Zhou Yan also presented matching panties, stockings and a garter belt. “What does Your Highness think?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… I…,” Xie Lian merely stammered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just get them both!,” Shi Qingxuan was smiling wide. She had already picked out something white that looked like it was covered in actual flowers, but turned out to have been made from a soft, sheer material. “Oh, Crimson Rain Sought Flower would not be able to believe it! What a treat for him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you… Do you really think he would like it?,” Xie Lian asked carefully. He was trying to picture himself wearing these things. How little they covered, how delicate. Would he even look good in them?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course,” Shi Qingxuan and Zhou Yan said almost at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If there is one thing I’ve learned running my shop these past hundred years or so,” he continued. “It’s that everyone likes lingerie. And it really makes that night so very special.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I want it to be special,” Xie Lian whispered. His voice became lower and lower as he continued speaking. “Could I… maybe… have them both? Will they uhm… fit?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They will, I have an eye for these things. And of course,” Zhou Yan winked at him. “I’ll pack them up for you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian thanked him and stared down at his own hands as he packed these pieces of lingerie up in silk paper that he could hide in his sleeve. By his side was Shi Qingxuan, pressing close to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is going to be so lovely,” she said quietly. “What do you think, should we go to the Heavenly City next? We have two invitations to give out.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En, that might be good,” he replied. “Do you want to show yourself? People still think that you’re gone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm,” she sighed. “I had almost forgotten.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a moment she looked so sad, and Xie Lian’s heart grew heavy. So much for the distraction.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Perhaps we can be a little… stealthy,” she eventually said. “I’m sure Feng Xin and Mu Qing can keep a secret, can’t they?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, of course.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yan-er,” Shi Qingxuan called out. “We’re off! Do make sure those robes are absolutely perfect.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As they walked out Zhou Yan stood there with his arms crossed again, and raised an eyebrow at them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course they will be.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know, darling, we’ll come by again soon!” She pulled him into a brief hug before they walked to the door, where Xie Lian took out his personal set of dice to bring them to his own palace.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you sure that’s a good idea?,” Shi Qingxuan eyed the dice nervously. “Last time…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, don’t worry. San Lang gives me lots of his luck to make sure I can get to him. Just in case.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Luck, huh?” Shi Qingxuan grinned at him with a look in her eyes Xie Lian couldn’t quite place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well. Yes.” He just shrugged, and turned to roll them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was rarely in his palace. So rarely that there was a thin layer of dust that had settled over everything. Shi Qingxuan scolded him in a teasing way, but the two took out a cloak Xie Lian found in the back of a closet so she could put it on and raise up her hood. Still they were careful to walk out of the way of others, hiding behind other palaces when necessary. Mu Qing’s palace was the closest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And as it turned out, it wasn’t necessary to make another stop. As they had just sneaked into the immaculate looking palace, they walked in on Mu Qing sitting in Feng Xin’s lap, both of them sharing wine out of the same cup, and the latter feeding the former morsels of delicious looking food.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Shi Qingxuan coughed to make themselves seen, Mu Qing all but fell out of his lap.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“FUCK!,” he called out, immediately scrambling to stand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Y-Your Highness,” Feng Xin followed, smoothing down his robes. They both looked a little flushed. It dawned on Xie Lian that had they come a little later, there may have been a <em>very</em> different picture they would have walked in on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sorry to interrupt,” Shi Qingxuan said, not sounding sorry in the slightest. She had pulled down her hood and the two stared at her. “You two, huh? I thought the underworld might collapse first.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wind Master? How are you back?,” Feng Xin asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s a long story and it’s not over yet,” Shi Qingxuan huffed, hands on her hips. “That’s not why we’re here. We’re here to invite you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Invite us?,” Mu Qing glanced over at Feng Xin, both of them still looking rather uneasy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh yes, haven’t you noticed how happy His Highness is these days?” Shi Qingxuan grinned at them. She was certainly laying good groundwork. The two were watching her pace through the room. “Just look at him now, can barely stop smiling.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uhm… he’s not been around much,” Mu Qing pointed out. “I… suppose so?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes well that’s part of the reason. Why do you think that is?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Feng Xin and Mu Qing glanced at each other, their expressions souring.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Crimson Rain Sought Flower,” Feng Xin grumbled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No need to be looking like that,” she sounded scolding, hands on her hips again. “I’ve seen the two of them. It’s almost sickening how sweet they are. He treats His Highness very well - and the boy. We cannot forget sweet Xiao-Min. All of that makes His Highness very happy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What exactly is your point?!,” Mu Qing’s patience was running out. “And you cannot just gloss over the fact that you’re back like this! You were a crippled old man last time.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because that’s not important right now!,” Shi Qingxuan’s own patience was joining that of Mu Qing’s. “Are you coming to His Highness’ wedding or not?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well. When Lady Wind Master had said that she would take care of this, Xie Lian had admittedly been expecting something different. At least she had tried, and he appreciated that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wedding?!,” the two managed to say in unison.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah yes… San Lang proposed to me,” Xie Lian admitted, blushing at the thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And you said yes?!,” Mu Qing took a step forward, coming close to him. It seemed as if he wanted to reach out but didn’t quite dare to do so. “He’s- He’s-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s been there for me at the darkest points of my life,” Xie Lian blurted out. “When-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They both froze. <em>When you weren’t.</em> He didn’t mean to imply this, but here he was. He had never blamed them. Never.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry,” he started, but Feng Xin interrupted him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“His Highness is right.” He looked at him, fists clenched, expression unreadable. Complicated. Everything was. “Crimson- Hua Cheng makes you happy. I will be there, if that is what you want.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian felt a relief in his heart. A weight that was lifted, but not all the way. He turned to Mu Qing who looked so angry, and he carefully put his hand on his arm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry about dragging you into everything,” he said quietly. “My life that turned into… Into all this. I wish I had never dragged you down with me. But I am so proud of what you two became.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Highness…,” Mu Qing seemed to visibly deflate in front of him. Such a talk between them had been long overdue. “Are you sure he is not up to something?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is that really what you’re worried about?,” Xie Lian asked with a smile, squeezing his arm. “What do I have that would be worth taking?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Y-Your…,” Mu Qing looked away. “Yourhonour.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My… what…?” Xie Lian tilted his head, it took a while for him to realise what he meant. His blush deepened. “He- That- I mean…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He took a deep breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang cherishes me,” he said softly. “He really does. You have nothing to worry about. Marrying him makes me happy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fine,” Mu Qing said after a long pause. “I’ll come. Don’t expect a present though.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to laugh at that. He really wanted to pull him into a hug but refrained from it. There seemed to be only one person that may be brave enough to do so.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t need anything,” he replied. “I will let you know when.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As awkward as this conversation had been, Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile. Once the Black Water business had been concluded, they could concentrate on happier things. And he would do anything to protect Shi Qingxuan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seeing as they had sneaked out from Puqi Shrine without Hua Cheng knowing, they decided to soon return. Just as they were about to, it seemed that Zhou Yan’s spell was fading. Xie Lian was suddenly overwhelmed by a new level of exhaustion, feeling just how much pain had been withheld from him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He made sure to cling onto Shi Qingxuan who led him through the next magical door back to the Shrine where he all but collapsed onto their bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh no, I have pressured Your Highness to distract me. You should have been resting!” Shi Qingxuan was fretting about, tucking him into bed and making sure he was comfortable.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s nothing bad,” he told her. “I was glad to go with you. It was really fun.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sitting on the side of the bed again, Shi Qingxuan hesitantly returned his smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was. Oh I missed it. I am just- Just so afraid that it will be taken from me again.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian reached out to take her hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If this is what you want I will do everything in my power to stop that from happening,” he said quietly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… I don’t want it to be exactly like before. I took this from someone who should have been in my place and what did I do? I barely even cared about the people praying to me.” She didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke, becoming teary eyed. “I want… I want to be more like Your Highness.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Me?” His life had been a disaster. He couldn’t save his people, had almost become something that anyone would fear and hate. It was only thanks to Hua Cheng that he hadn’t. A scrap collecting god, that’s what he was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“To save the common people, that’s what you always say,” she smiled, but it did not reach her eyes. “If I can do that, I will gladly remain the way I am now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian squeezed her hand. His own words sounded silly to him, but the sentiment behind them were still true.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You have not changed form since you returned,” he just noticed it now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My… my brother is not here to scold me for it anymore,” she whispered, then continued speaking a little more confident. “Since I prefer this form, I want to keep it for the moment.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ve always liked it,” he replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He wanted to comfort her more, but felt the lack of strength to keep his eyes open become a weight that was too heavy to bear. She fussed a bit longer, made him drink water and have a snack, before fluffing out a pillow to put under his head. Where Hua Cheng had been before, was not Shi Qingxuan by his side, looking at him. Slowly she reached out to take his hand once more, and Xie Lian felt a new kind of spiritual energy seep into his body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Each god’s energy felt different. He had felt that of Feng Xin and Mu Qing, furious, wild, burning aggressively. He had felt that of Hua Cheng that he could only describe as love. Shi Qingxuan’s was calmer than he had expected. A gentle summer breeze that played with his hair and made him sigh with a heavy heart yearning for a lazy day. Perhaps hers had once been different, perhaps it had been changed with everything she had lost.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you,” he said softly, just before falling asleep.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was haunted by that day in the temple again. His own wounds did not seem to hurt as much this time, and the sound of his flesh tearing wasn’t giving him the most agony. It was Hua Cheng sitting there. Staring at him. Face full of terror. The way he had been when Xie Lian had woken the night before.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s okay, San Lang,” he tried to say. “This is all already over.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But the words didn’t come out. He was stuck in place, just like Hua Cheng was. For what seemed like hours, the two merely stared at each other, unable to help. Unable to comfort one another.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian awoke feeling exhausted. His sleep had not been restful, and for a while he was confused. These red walls were not Puqi Shrine. He was back in Paradise Manor. He had been undressed and put in a light robe, his bandages also changed. The wound had healed a bit more and getting up didn’t hurt as much anymore, but the exhaustion was deep in his bones.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he muttered to himself. He was always on his mind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As he looked around he saw a folded set of robes on the bed beside himself. The fabric seemed familiar, and he remembered that day, before they had met Tao Min. The ride they had gotten from the merchant, and the fabric Hua Cheng had bought. The inner robes were his usual white, the outer ones in this sheer peach fabric decorated with flowers. He found that he looked rather strange in the mirror.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His hands didn’t quite seem to want to work when he tried to put up his hair again, and in the end he had to give up, tucking away the white ribbon to instead go and find Hua Cheng. As soon as he left the room he heard distant voices, following them to not the main hall but a room further into the manor complex.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng was in this plainly furnished room, to his side Yin Yu with Tao Min in his lap, and opposite them Shi Qingxuan. But sitting on a small sofa, behind a circle of a golden rope… was another child?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang?,” he asked, and Hua Cheng immediately stood to go to him. When he cupped Xie Lian’s cheek, he had to lean into it and sigh. It was good to see him outside of that dream. To see him well and feel his touch. “What’s going on?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is Gege alright?,” Hua Cheng asked instead, eye full of concern. “You looked so pale. I told you to rest.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m sorry.” Xie Lian reached up to grasp his wrists, thumbs gently rubbing, and he made himself smile. “We had something important to take care of. I’m alright now, really.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege,” Hua Cheng sighed and leaned in, letting their foreheads rest against one another for a moment. This already seemed so intimate, but something about the exhaustion and his dream made him crave this touch so badly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he whispered. “Who is that other child?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng pulled back. The smile on his lips was much better than when he had seen him last, it reached his eye, and showed him love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I told you I would find Black Water.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He Xuan?!,” he tilted to the side to look at the child there.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Long black hair, dark robes. His eyes, they were so fierce. This truly wasn’t a child like Tao Min. This was a ghost that had used up a lot of spiritual energy, and had to conserve it now. Like Hua Cheng had so long ago. This was Black Water.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmph.” He Xuan crossed his arms and looked to the side, avoiding Shi Qingxuan’s direction.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She looked rather forlorn. Staring at her fan instead of the man that took her brother’s life. Among all of this, Tao Min was completely clueless.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is his name Black Water because of his black hair? It almost looks like water,” he looked up at Yin Yu.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Erm. Yes it is,” he replied awkwardly. Better not to tell the boy that it was because he was famous for capsizing ships. “Ah, seeing as His Highness is here now, perhaps I’ll take Ah-Min to play.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can Black Water come play too?,” Tao Min asked. “I haven’t made a friend in a long time! One that’s not so tall anyway.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Maybe later,” Yin Yu stood and took Tao Min with him. “They have to talk to him first.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, okay.” Tao Min sounded rather disappointed. But he turned to wave at He Xuan. “See you later, Didi!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian thought that He Xuan tensed up for a moment, only briefly glancing at the boy. So he quickly stepped up in front of him, just in case he got any ideas about harming him. Not that he could, he now realised. The circle he was in would be difficult to get out of, and He Xuan obviously needed to preserve his energy. How odd it was to see a ‘child’ this gloomy and serious.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where did you find him?,” Xie Lian addressed Hua Cheng but walked to Shi Qingxuan to put a hand on her shoulder. Quietly he said: “Are you alright?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She just nodded without looking at him when Hua Cheng answered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Holed up trying to recover before being found,” he was smirking. “Unsuccessfully.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s time to explain then,” Xie Lian addressed He Xuan. “Is Lady Wind Master truly a god again?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Slowly He Xuan turned to look up at him, deep eyes shimmering like the surface of a dark lake. Even in this body he found himself almost intimidated.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes,” he said. His voice wasn’t like it had been in an adult form, but still surprisingly deep. It was a little creepy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And it was you who managed it, wasn’t it?,” he continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to hold back a sigh and to not roll his eyes, but the urge was there. This was going to be like pulling worms. But at least so far he <em>was</em> answering them. He wondered if perhaps He Xuan had wanted to be captured. Or have this conversation at one point.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How? Explain,” he sounded rather commanding, even to his own ears. Hua Cheng let him have the lead here, though his presence close to him was very welcome. A reminder that someone very powerful stood behind Xie Lian. Figuratively and literally.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If Gege wants me to… persuade him, let me know,” Hua Cheng said quietly into his ear, but clearly loud enough for Black Water to hear it as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t think that will be necessary,” Xie Lian replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Though seemingly hesitantly, He Xuan did answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“An opportunity arose. A dying god. Divinity would have gone to waste otherwise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You can’t be serious?!,” Shi Qingxuan suddenly stood, hand holding the fan trembling. “You- You just did the same thing my brother did?! Don’t you see how hypocritical that makes you?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He Xuan still didn’t look at her, his expression unchanging.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was going to go to waste otherwise,” he said flatly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why was he dying?,” Xie Lian asked. He hadn’t heard of a missing god, but then these days he was rarely involved in heavenly matters.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because I killed him,” came He Xuan’s calm reply.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian didn’t know what other answer he had expected.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Elaborate,” he told him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He came to ‘punish’ me,” He Xuan let out a little huff of air, as if he couldn’t believe the audacity. “I don’t seek out trouble but he breached <em>my</em> territory. My home. As I said, he was going to die anyway.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So because you were on everyone’s radar again, someone was foolish enough to think he could take you on by himself,” Xie Lian mused, hand coming to his chin. “I suppose in the ghost realm it is not an overreaction. And then what?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He turned his attention back to He Xuan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You took him and Shi Qingxuan to that cave and performed some sort of ritual? Did you keep tabs on her?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm,” came Hua Cheng’s deep voice right by his ear. While thinking he had almost forgotten that he was there, and the sudden sound sent a shiver through his spine. He had to focus hard not to let his thoughts wander to other times where his voice was right by his ear. Rumbling things into his ear that made Xie Lian melt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Focus, you pervert.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s been stalking her,” Hua Cheng continued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“W-What?,” Shi Qingxuan took a step back. “But I- I was- How and- I looked like <em>that</em>!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Utterly horrified, she sank back down on the chair she had previously been on. Her face was going through a whole array of different emotions, skin paler than it had been before. Xie Lian made sure to sit by her side and cover her hand with his own.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why?,” he directed at He Xuan. “There is no point in me asking for every single detail. Speak. Now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He Xuan sighed. He didn’t speak for a moment, and instead closed his eyes. His form shimmered slightly to return to that of a grown man, long hair like a curtain hiding half his face. He looked elegant and handsome in black, but Shi Qingxuan still just stared in horror at these revelations.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally, he turned to her. Dark eyes meeting her own. How was it that He Xuan didn’t seem angrier at her? Back in his lair, he seemed to be ready to kill her. Now he had done this, returned her to her former divinity. To play a cruel joke?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because I love you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian blinked, his brain not quite catching up with what had just been said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I hated you,” He Xuan said quietly. His voice almost as deep as Hua Cheng’s. “And then I loved you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan’s eyes were wide in terror. Or at least that’s what Xie Lian thought it was. She stood up again, reaching into the circle to smack He Xuan with her fan. He let it happen without flinching.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How dare you say this to me?! <em>Now?!</em>,” she screamed at him. “Why do you have to say it after you killed my brother? After you killed another god to make me like this? How dare you, how <em>fucking</em> dare you?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Because it’s agony,” He Xuan replied, as calm as he had been all this time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know!,” Shi Qingxuan fell to her knees right in front of the circle, looking up at him. He Xuan’s hand twitched, as if he wanted to reach out but thought better of it. “I know because I still feel the same way. Even with what you did. What my brother did I-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She couldn’t hold back the sob that made her entire body shudder, and needed a moment before she could speak again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The worst part is- Is that I understand,” her voice cracked, and turned into a whisper. “If what my brother did had been done to me- I’d do the same thing. I can’t even hate you. But I miss him <em>so much.</em> But I look at you now and I <em>love you</em>.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He Xuan’s eyes widened just a little bit, almost unnoticeable. But his hands clenched into fists, and before either of them could stop him he had reached through the circle and grasped She Qingxuan’s face to kiss her. And without hesitation - she kissed back. Until her tears overwhelmed her again and she moved back, just to see that He Xuan had changed forms again. To that of the woman dressed in black.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh trying to flatter me now, are you?,” Shi Qingxuan huffed, wearing a sad smile. She was sitting flat on her behind, balls of her hands coming to her eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I will not take it from you again,” He Xuan told her. “You do not have to fear me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I still can’t believe you would do this, the way he did,” Shi Qingxuan huffed. “I should beat you up.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I…,” He Xuan looked away from her. “Understand some of his reasoning.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was love, Xie Lian thought. Their crimes stemmed from love. It wasn’t an excuse, but it was a terrible force that could drive people to do anything. Xie Lian knew that too well. They had simply been driven to a different aspect of it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was all very complicated. Xie Lian didn’t approve of revenge but a part of him could understand it, the way Lady Wind Master did. It felt like there should be consequences, but Shi Qingxuan was the only remaining victim now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lady Wind Master,” he knelt by her side so that she flinched from being startled. They must have forgotten they still had an audience. “Should we bring him to the Heavenly Capital? A council could decide what to do with him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness I-,” tears welled up in her eyes again. “Would you judge me if I said that is not what I want?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My friend,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder again. “I will never judge you. It is your right to decide.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What if I… reject this?,” she asked, looking back down at her fan as He Xuan tensed up again, leaning forward. “It’s been taken wrongly. Again. The right thing to do would be to give it up on my own volition.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It would be a waste!,” He Xuan shot out. “He’s already dead, keep it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She rushed to the edge of the circle, and fell on her knees, unable to reach outside when Shi Qingxuan wasn’t leaning over it. Her hand pressed against an invisible barrier. Shifting into these forms had taken up more of her energy.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I need time to think,” Shi Qingxuan muttered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang, the barrier will hold?,” Xie Lian asked him softly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En. Of course.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lady Wind Master,” Xie Lian’s tone remained soothing as he leaned closer to her. “We’ll leave you alone. You can stay here or go somewhere else. She won’t be able to go anywhere. If you need us, let us know.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you, Your Highness,” she turned to look up at him, and despite her tears there was the smallest smile playing on her lips. “I really mean it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt bold enough to pull her into a hug, one she returned very tightly for a few moments. Then he gently let her go, smiling as he left with Hua Cheng. They made it down the corridor and around a corner before Xie Lian let himself lean against the wall. And let out a long, long sigh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What a mess!,” he groaned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm.” Hua Cheng strode closer to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It almost would be easier if they wanted to kill each other,” he said. “Not that I would want that!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm…” Hua Cheng casually leaned his arm against the wall by the side of Xie Lian’s head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is it selfish that I want her to stay as she is?,” he sighed again. “I just really missed her. I guess I could have visited her more before, done more. That’s all on me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege shouldn’t blame himself,” Hua Cheng replied, his hand coming to play with a streak of his loose hair. “You were busy too. Think about all we did.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I suppose so.” It seemed that his sighs right now were never ending. Hua Cheng pressed a little closer, and his hand wandered to his collarbone, tracing gently. “San Lang… What are you doing?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege is so pretty in this robe,” he muttered with a low voice, that rumbly voice that made Xie Lian swallow nervously. Hua Cheng shifted again, his knee coming to press between Xie Lian’s thighs. “I’m so happy you wore it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“S-San Lang did leave it out for me,” Xie Lian stuttered a bit at the sudden change in mood. Out here in the hallway where once again someone could see them. But all was quiet. Yin Yu surely would be taking care that Tao Min didn’t run into Black Water by accident…. Right?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm, I did, so I know there’s something missing,” Hua Cheng’s grin was almost predatory. Xie Lian swallowed again. He did know that there wasn’t a matching pair of pants underneath the layers of robes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a moment he did try to fight the knee that was pressing more firmly between his thighs. But his lust and the way Hua Cheng looked at him won in the end. They were pressed apart, and the robes fell open to reveal some of his knee and thigh.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“S-San Lang,” he all but moaned, clinging to the front of his outer robe. With how tall he was, towering above him, Xie Lian almost would not be seen if someone passed. Almost.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But it was too late anyway, Xie Lian was already aroused.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, Gege?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“S-Stop teasing already.” He looked up with a blush in his cheeks and tried to be stern, but when he was suddenly lifted up a moan slipped from his lips again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He spread his legs wide to wrap them around Hua Cheng’s hips, and his robes completely fell open, exposing his growing erection. It was him then that scrambled to pull out Hua Cheng so he could let Xie Lian sink down on his cock. As he did, he shuddered and pressed a hand to his mouth. Around Hua Cheng, he crossed his ankles to make sure he could stay in place like this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege, I can’t move like this,” Hua Cheng looked very amused, the corners of his mouth curling up. Xie Lian couldn’t help but think of a cat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just- Just let me feel it for a moment,” he gasped.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, Gege.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With his legs spread so wide and Hua Cheng’s hands on his ass, spreading him open, he felt so deep inside. He was clinging tightly around Hua Cheng’s neck, who started to pepper kisses all over his face as Xie Lian gasped helplessly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And finally uncrossed his ankles.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng took that as his invitation to start thrusting into him, and Xie Lian, unable to press a hand to his mouth, instead searched out his kisses. Not that he was able to give them properly, with the motion of Hua Cheng thrusting into him, and every one of them hitting that spot inside him, he could not concentrate. Instead he whimpered and moaned into the kiss, completely focused on the heat pooling in his groin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I can’t- Can’t believe we’re doing this- They’re- They’re still in the other room like this,” he muttered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What do you think <em>they’re</em> doing?,” Hua Cheng whispered into his ear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“R-Really?!” He pulled back to stare at him for a moment, but Hua Cheng’s grin told him everything. He could probably hear or sense them. Somehow Hua Cheng always knew what was going on. “Oh- Oh by the heavens.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He did <em>not</em> want to think about them that way at all! But if they were making love, surely that was better than them wanting to kill each other.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ahhh~ San Lang~”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His mind was empty. Nothing could be said or done when Hua Cheng made love to him oh so very perfectly. When he whispered such sweet and naughty things into his ear with every single thrust deep inside him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege is so pretty. So sexy. Taking my cock so well inside. Taking my seed and keeping it. Does Gege want to make a child, I wonder?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And all Xie Lian could do was groan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How did he always make him feel so good? How could he never get enough of this? The build up happened quickly this time, so intensely that Xie Lian’s fingers almost tore Hua Cheng’s clothes. Only barely did he manage to control his strength, and then he was abruptly overwhelmed by his orgasm. As he involuntarily tightened around Hua Cheng, his seed spilled deep inside.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian smiled. And his ankles crossed again, keeping Hua Cheng in place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege,” Hua Cheng chuckled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just a moment,” he whispered. It was always just a moment. And Hua Cheng always indulged him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He let them both sink down on the floor, and Xie Lian sighed a happier sigh this time. Basking in the afterglow of his orgasm, he felt flushed in the most wonderful way, and started to caress his husband-to-be’s face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“So handsome…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As he said this so absentmindedly, Hua Cheng turned to look away. Xie Lian was reminded of such similar occurrences. Now that he had come, some of his brain function had returned as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang? Do you not like it when I say this?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… This one is just-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You keep saying this,” Xie Lian gently interrupted. “Please don’t put yourself down. Will San Lang tell me why he thinks so?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s…,” Hua Cheng huffed. It was hard for him to open up about these things, but Xie Lian was patient. With a gentle smile and careful caresses he encouraged him. “You know the eye on E’Ming. My other one, it’s different. I’ve always been called ugly. A freak.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian suddenly remembered. That young soldier had his eye bandaged over. He had thought it was from an injury, but it was to hide that red eye of his.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They thought it a bad omen,” he whispered, and Hua Cheng nodded.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know when Gege calls me this he is not lying but…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s hard to think of yourself as worthy when people have always told you you’re not,” Xie Lian said. The god of scrap and misfortune. That’s what <em>he</em> had been called for most of his life. “But San Lang, will you look at me?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reluctantly, Hua Cheng did.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When I met you, I thought ‘what a handsome youth!’,” he admitted. “At first I didn’t want to admit to myself I was attracted to you, but that first time you showed me your real form my heart it- it fluttered in my chest. Your hands on my own, and the way you looked at me. I was already attracted to you then.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I mean it,” he said quickly. “Even if I didn’t want to allow myself to be. You made it very difficult, you know?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He said so in a teasing way, and Hua Cheng had to chuckle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Every now and then I would just look at you and think how handsome you are. Not just your looks, but the way you’ve always treated me. With such kindness and respect.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege can really stop now,” Hua Cheng, for the first time in his life, looked a little awkward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Just one more thing,” he said, and leaned in to whisper into Hua Cheng’s adorably pointed ear. “San Lang looks even more handsome dressed in black.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt Hua Cheng’s arms wrap tighter around him, pulling him into those hugs that were the perfect amount of strength to feel intimate and just a little desperate. He smiled and hugged him in the same way, feeling his face in the crook of Xie Lian’s neck, where a gentle kiss was pressed to the skin. They remained like this for a while longer until it was finally time to clean each other up and make sure they were properly dressed when they went to Tao Min’s room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Papa!,” he immediately ran to Xie Lian and hugged his leg. Then he was swiftly lifted by him and hugged. “Papa looks much better now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am better,” he said, and kissed his cheek. “It’s because I kept thinking about how much I wanted to play with little Ah-Min.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, oh, come play with us!” He pointed at a low table that Yin Yu and he had been sitting at. There was an adorable doll house there, in front of which had been set up a little tea party that the dolls were currently attending. Yin Yu, as always, looked a little awkward.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All of the dolls had a bit of a macabre flair to them, having evidently been made in Ghost City. But there were a few that he definitely recognised. A doll dressed completely in white with a bamboo hat, with a creepily wide smile. Hua Cheng’s doll looked completely like him, while the smaller one with the curly hair had an eerie ghostly glow to it. The mask of the doll dressed in dark clothes had bleeding eyes. Still, in a weird way, this was their little family.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min was happily chatting away about what they had been doing. That ‘tall papa’ had taken them on an adventure and they were now drinking tea after having defeated the ‘bad guy’. Yin Yu, ‘uncle’, also featured heavily in the adventure, saving Tao Min and cheering him on.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was so. Adorable. Xie Lian couldn’t stop smiling, and asked Tao Min questions about details that he all too happily answered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, is everything okay with Lady Wind Master?,” Yin Yu asked in a quiet moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“For now,” Xie Lian replied. “They er… Need some time alone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Definitely not thinking about what exactly they were doing. Definitely not.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah uhm. Well, has Your Highness thought more about the wedding?,” he continued. “I will be happy to help.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, Feng Xin and Mu Qing agreed to come, and the robes are being made as we speak,” Xie Lian put a finger to his chin, thinking about what else they may need. “Does San Lang also need something to wear?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Already have it,” he said quietly, and Xie Lian had to grin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright, then what else? We need to figure out where, and who is leading it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And the- the trials!,” Tao Min spoke up excitedly. “I wanna make tall papa make the trials.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Trials?,” Xie Lian asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah! Yu-huh! I saw when they got married in the village,” Tao Min was so excited, even not knowing what they were Xie Lian wanted to agree. “The- Tall papa has to do super difficult things so he’s allowed to marry papa.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En,” Hua Cheng had a twinkle in his eye. “Min-er must make sure that they are very difficult.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I will!” The boy beamed up at them, and Xie Lian found his heart overflowing, not just full. How would he possibly survive this wedding…?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“If… If Hua Cheng-zu doesn’t mind I could… lead through the ceremony,” Yin Yu said very quietly, his head lowered. “Un-Unless you wish to find someone more suitable. I could look out for someone.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian looked at Hua Cheng to see his reaction to this suggestion. He wasn’t even looking at Yu Yin, just picked up the doll that was clearly meant to be himself and placed it right next to the one that was Xie Lian. That way it looked like they were holding hands.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why not,” he eventually said, and Yin Yu let out a little sigh of relief. “Just make sure it goes smoothly.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, of course!,” Yin Yu smiled so rarely. It turned out he even had small dimples when he did. “Where- Where would you like to hold it then? Paradise Manor has plenty of space.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm,” Xie Lian thought. They had certainly spent a lot of time here, and it was a beautiful building. With all its red walls, it seemed equipped for a wedding already.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not here,” Hua Cheng said. Currently he was adding the little Tao Min doll to sit in their laps. “Puqi Shrine.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really?,” Xie Lian was rather surprised. There were few places that were less glamorous than his own shrine. “But it’s so… plain.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s where I first spent time with Gege,” Hua Cheng’s voice became a little more quiet, as if he didn’t want to confess this. “We shared a bed…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian’s chest suddenly felt so warm. Despite Yin Yu here, he reached out for Hua Cheng’s hand, their fingers intertwining.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s special,” Hua Cheng finished.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I agree,” Xie Lian’s voice cracked, and Hua Cheng turned quickly to look at him. Xie Lian’s eyes were tearing up but he was smiling, grasping his chest where the rings were underneath. “Puqi Shrine it is.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was perfect, he thought. A small, simple wedding. He didn’t want or need anything more than that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was left to Yin Yu to prepare the shrine, to clean it up and decorate a bit as Xie Lian sent out messages to his two guests. Unfortunately, there was no one there for Hua Cheng. Aside from Yin Yu who would be there anyway. And, as it turned out, Black Water. Not that they were real friends from what he could tell. But Hua Cheng reassured him that there was no one else that he needed. He was there to marry Xie Lian, and that was it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A little while later Xie Lian had a long conversation with Shi Qingxuan. They had indeed been close the way he and Hua Cheng had been, a lot of history was between them after all. And as complicated as it was, it seemed they couldn’t stay away from one another. Shi Qingxuan was still very conflicted, but reiterated that she wanted to do more with the powers she had been given back now. She and He Xuan in female form vanished for a few weeks before the wedding. No news had come from the Heavenly Court yet, so it seemed that they were keeping their presence hidden for now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was better that way, Xie Lian thought. They didn’t need anyone meddling into affairs that ultimately came down to them figuring out themselves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the meantime Xie Lian had fully recovered from his wound and had returned to the fox spirit to pick up his robes. He had also been given a matching veil, and a small golden headpiece that would fit underneath it. He had stared at it for a very long time. So many years ago he would have demanded that it was too small, that he needed more, something fitting for the Crown Prince. Now he wondered if he would look silly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Zhou Yan however made him try everything on. ‘To see if it fits’, he had said. After that he was sure that Hua Cheng would like it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With the silken package in his hands he returned to the shrine, unable to stop smiling. The shrine had been almost completely transformed. It was still as small and humble as it always had been, but in the darkening afternoon sky the red lanterns Yin Yu had hung everywhere truly came to light, basking the surrounding area into a gentle glow. Candles littered the porch, where a rather simple red carpet led inside. Only a few plush red pillows were inside for those to be seated, an additional two under the watchful gaze of Xie Lian’s own statue for him and his husband-to-be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He still felt it a little awkward to be married under himself, but that couldn’t be helped.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To the right in their little yard was a room separator, red with a butterfly pattern behind which he could see the silhouette of Hua Cheng, currently in the process of changing. He tried not to flush because standing on the porch were already Mu Qing and Feng Xin, dressed in their finest. They both looked <em>very</em> handsome, not in their rather official looking attire, but nicely fitting darker clothing that suited them both very well, Feng Xin’s with a few golden accents, Mu Qing with just a little red.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re here!,” he was grinning so widely they were both taken aback a little, but Feng Xin returned it just a little. “I’m going to get dressed, do you want something to drink?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m on it!,” Yin Yu shouted from behind the room separator, and rushed over with a small tray.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is so weird…,” Mu Qing glanced at him. Yin Yu wasn’t wearing his mask and he had a slight flush in his cheeks serving former colleagues. Mu Qing nevertheless took the small cup of wine to take a sip.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m so glad you’re here,” Xie Lian said warmly. “It shouldn’t be much longer.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Papa!,” a child’s voice rang out, and Tao Min too came from behind the separator. “Tall papa has a tattoo of your name can I get one too?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mu Qing almost spit out his wine upon hearing that, while Feng Xin actually laughed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, Ah-Min, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” he leaned down to pet his small head. “Maybe when you’re a little older we can think about a tattoo. Just not… my name. Please.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aw,” Tao Min looked rather disappointed, but was distracted by the package in Xie Lian’s arms. “Is that your dress?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Robes,” Xie Lian coughed a little. It did look rather like a dress, but it was beautiful. “But yes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Can I help? I helped tall papa too!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“N-Not right now. Could you please keep your two uncles company while I change?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay!” Tao Min immediately walked over to Mu Qing of all people and raised his arms, his way of asking to be picked up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mu Qing rolled his eyes and looked down with a very dark look, but eventually handed Feng Xin his cup and picked him up. What a strange sight that was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uncle looks <em>SO</em> pretty!,” Tao Min told him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Was he… blushing? When had he learned to do that and-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to suddenly laugh and quickly ran into the shrine to hide it. It seemed that Tao Min had his first crush. And it was Mu Qing. The mere thought was simply too funny.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For the first time he ended up locking the side room as he put down the parcel. From underneath the bed he pulled out another one, the reason that Tao Min couldn’t help him with this. He carefully pulled apart the silk paper to reveal the two pieces of lingerie. One red, one white. He pondered for a moment which to choose, and ended on the red one. He usually wore white, it was hopefully a nice surprise for Hua Cheng to see.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt himself blush putting it one. Despite having seen it before, it took a while before he figured out where all the straps went, how to put the lacy garter belt over his hips, and how to attach everything to the stockings. He glanced at himself in the small mirror, his long hair spilling over his back. Oh how he hoped that Hua Cheng would like this.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Next were the actual wedding robes. He had just put them on earlier, but Zhou Yan had helped him so much that suddenly he was at a loss on what to do. The robes that looked a lot like the ones he had worn on Mount Yujun were much better crafted and a lot more complicated. He managed to put on the inner robes but the outer ones were wrapped in such a way that he just could not figure it out. He grabbed them, made sure that he was sufficiently covered, and walked outside.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He dodged all the additional lanterns and candles that were giving the inside of the shrine such an intimate and festive atmosphere to walk back outside. Mu Qing seemed to be ready to spit out his wine once more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Y-Your Highness, you’re not fully dressed!,” he blurted out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know, I just can’t figure it out! San Lang don’t look!,” he shouted the last sentence. “Is Lady Wind Master here yet? I need her help.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think I heard voices over there,” Feng Xin gestured in the direction of the neighbouring house. “Now, Ah-Min, you were saying how you liked Mu Qing’s eyes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes! They’re so dark but so shiny!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian suppressed his grin, hiked up his robes and went into the direction of said house. As Feng Xin had said, behind it he could hear familiar, albeit male voices. He stepped to the corner but froze in place when he saw a rather intimate scene.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan was adjusting He Xuan’s robes. In a way that was so… gentle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now, you must be on your best behaviour,” Shi Qingxuan told him. “They’re going to be a bit ah… surprised to see you there. I don’t want to fight any officials today.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Promise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I promise,” He Xuan said, the corner of his mouth just slightly twitching up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan sighed, his hands still on He Xuan’s chest and smoothing out the already very smooth material of his robes. Of course he was once more dressed in black, but he wasn’t nearly as handsome as Hua Cheng. At least in Xie Lian’s eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good. I... ,” he sighed again. “It’s hard sometimes, when I look at you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know,” He Xuan replied. He very hesitantly put a hand on Shi Qingxuan’s shoulder. “I told you I can leave.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No I… I don’t want that either. Let’s just… let’s just enjoy tonight, okay?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En.” He Xuan paused. “You want to change forms again, don’t you?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes,” Shi Qingxuan chuckled. “But there’s just one thing I’d like to do before that.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He leaned in closer to He Xuan, and Xie Lian was a bit confused. They just looked at each other while Shi Qingxuan moved his hand a little strangely between them. He Xuan’s lips parted and he let out a little huff, then a strange sound.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Allow me…,” Shi Qingxuan suddenly dropped to his knees, and Xie Lian fell on his behind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had <em>NOT</em> wanted to see Black Water’s cock!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So he stood up quickly and rushed back to the temple where he turned to see if the fall had left a stain on his robes. Thankfully they were fine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“THEY UH THEY NEED A MOMENT,” he blurted out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Mu Qing, he… actually smiled at him rather warmly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness is still hopeless.” He turned to hand Tao Min over to Feng Xin, and walked to Xie Lian. To his utter bewilderment, he held out his arm for him to take. “I’ll help then. <em>Only</em> this once.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, Mu Qing!” Xie Lian wanted to just hug him right there but held back. “Thank you, thank you!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No need. Come.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They walked back into the side room of the shrine, and Xie Lian finally let the outer robes fall again. He really was incredibly hopeless with these things. Even as the crown prince he would not have been able to do this on his own. It had always been Mu Qing helping him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Who took a look and picked up the robes and belts to figure them out, and to his credit only needed a few moments. He then made Xie Lian turn and hold out his arms in a T shape so he could slip the long and wide sleeves over them, then swiftly bound everything together, finishing with the elaborately embroidered belt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How about hair, Your Highness?,” Mu Qing asked, glancing at the headpiece and veil.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh I- It usually would be put up, wouldn’t it?,” he asked in turn.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmmm….” Mu Qing walked around him, careful not to step over the overly long robes, and took him in. Standing in front of him again he took parts of Xie Lian’s hair to experimentally put them up in various different ways.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was such a strange feeling. Mu Qing looked older, and wiser in his own way. But if Xie Lian imagined just a little, this could be his palace rooms. And he could be preparing for the parade. He had to suddenly swallow hard and focus on not letting his tears fall. So much had happened since then. So much pain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mu Qing I-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Actually I-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They glanced at each other, and Mu Qing stepped back as if he wanted to bow and ask for his forgiveness. The movement was interrupted halfway as he remembered who he was now.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What were you going to say?,” Xie Lian looked away, trying to discreetly dab at the corner of his eye. But standing right in front of him, he couldn’t.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t,” Mu Qing stopped his sleeve midway, and had suddenly pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve. “Use this instead.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you,” Xie Lian whispered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I uh… I think that you should leave your hair down. I’ll just brush it a bit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes Your- Your Highness looks very beautiful this way,” Mu Qing didn’t meet his eyes as he spoke. “I always thought it was rather… romantic.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Do you wear it open for Feng Xin?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En,” Mu Qing nodded. “Sometimes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m really happy for you two,” Xie Lian whispered. He had never really thought that he would get this emotional on his wedding day, even with how happy he was. Maybe it was this breath of nostalgia that Mu Qing brought with him. “In a strange way you are a really good fit.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mu Qing chuckled a little, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. Finally he helped Xie Lian brush his hair, and to put on the small, golden headpiece, fastening the veil over it, and letting it fall over his face. Just like that, he was done, and Mu Qing was about to leave the room but stopped in his tracks. Turned to Xie Lian, to the door, and back to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mu Qing?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Suddenly he was on his knees, and Xie Lian’s heart skipped in his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness I-,” he took a deep breath. “Your Highness I am sorry for leaving… back then. I- I swore- I should have-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No, no, no Mu Qing,” Xie Lian fell on his knees right in front of him, and took his hands. “I am sorry for bringing you down with me. For everything. Please do not apologise to me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He lifted his veil to better see him, thinking briefly that it was a strange thing to do not with his Hua Cheng but someone else. But in this case an exception could be done. And because neither really knew what else there was to say, Xie Lian pulled Mu Qing into a hug.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He stiffened at first, but then just as suddenly wrapped his arms around what used to be <em>His</em> Highness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian wasn’t really sure how long they stayed like that, embracing for the first time in over 800 years. He was the one to first pull away, smoothing down Mu Qing’s somewhat tousled hair and smiling at him. Now he did not have any more tears, only smiles. With a bit of a flush in his cheeks, Mu Qing looked away, his gaze falling on a small box.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lady Wind Master left this?,” he asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh, yes I think so.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Then allow me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was actually made to sit on the bed and for whatever reason, Mu Qing was actually good at putting on make up for him. Why hadn’t he offered his help before? Well, because it was Mu Qing, but Xie Lian still internally pouted a little. He dabbed a bit of red onto his lips, some rouge on his cheeks, lined his eyes with red just to finish with the lightest touch of black over his eyes as well. It wasn’t much, but it certainly suited him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t look so surprised, Your Highness. I have more talents than you think.” Mu Qing actually looked rather smug.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Evidently.” Xie Lian smiled up at him again. “Thank you. Really.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mu Qing nodded to him, and bowed a little.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a moment he was left alone in this room, dressed up and about to get married. He had to take in a deep breath himself, and lowered the veil again. A few more moments, and he steeled himself before he got up. In the main room of the shrine he ran into Lady Wind Master, once more in her female form. He really tried to not think about what he had seen earlier. Thankfully the rouge on his cheeks and the veil hid his blushing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There you are,” she said. “Are we ready to begin?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think so,” he replied. “I’m dressed at least.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t be nervous,” she winked at him, and pulled him closer so she could lead him to the plump pillow that he could stand in front of. She made sure to drape his robes so that they were perfect. “You’re marrying the love of your life.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know,” he said gleefully. Giddy, almost. His heart thumping in his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He couldn’t look at anywhere else but the doorway into the shrine. The few guests that were here had sat down on their pillows, Feng Xin and Mu Qing on what would be Xie Lian’s side. Black Water and Lady Wind Master on the other. The tiny form of Tao Min stood just before the porch, grinning nervously. And to the side Yin Yu, who leaned in to whisper something into the boy’s ear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He quickly rushed inside, standing in front of Xie Lian.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“His uhhhh….,” he took in a deep breath and scratched his head. “What was it again? His- His Hi-ness the Crown Prince of Xie Lian- Xian Le! Uhm the er… scrappy god…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lady Wind Master was mouthing words at Tao Min, that he squinted at.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Martial god! Yes and also god of problem solving and my papa!,” he said that last bit so very proudly, and Xie Lian had to gasp. How cute he was. “Also he’s super cool at beating up people.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The small group snickered, and Tao Min looked rather pleased. Then he went back to the doorway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tall papa it’s your turn!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was movement from behind that separator as a dark figure stepped out, and as Tao Min spoke, Xie Lian’s breath got stuck in his lungs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hua Cheng, San Lang,” Tao Min listed off his names and titles. “Also Er… Hua Cheng-zu, boss man of the Ghost City. Crimson… Crimson Rain Also Wearing A Flower. The tall papa.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Soft footsteps on the grass changed and fell with a thump onto the wooden porch. Xie Lian’s gaze was fixed on the figure of Hua Cheng, covered in the rosy red of the love he felt and the veil that covered him. Tall, broad shouldered Hua Cheng dressed in red, with a black, long vest over the red, another black belt accenting his lovely waist. Where he usually wore silver, his bracers and jewelry were gold. Matching Xie Lian.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang…,” he whispered to himself, hand on his chest. He couldn’t quite believe that this was happening. How could a single person be <em>this</em> handsome?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng’s face was shrouded in shadow for a moment, the way he stood and the low light here obscuring his face. Though Xie Lian so desperately wanted to see if he liked the way he looked. Nervously he fumbled with his sleeves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tall papa you can’t go in yet,” Tao Min said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Pray tell, young master,” Hua Cheng’s deep voice made Xie Lian’s heart skip yet another beat. He knelt and finally Xie Lian could see his face, a gentle smile, looking down at Tao Min. “What are my trials?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min took a deep breath. Xie Lian just now realised that he too had dressed up a little, that there were golden butterflies and flowers hanging from his belt. Most likely Hua Cheng’s idea.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They’re really hard,” he said proudly. “You have to stand on one foot until I tell you!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The boy was clearly enjoying this, while Mu Qing murmured a ‘what?’ and got an elbow from Feng Xin into his side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng’s expression was very grave. He took it so seriously that Xie Lian felt like his chest was about to burst from happiness. Very steadily Hua Cheng lifted one leg up, focusing on Tao Min as he balanced perfectly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Whoa,” Tao Min whispered. He just stared at Hua Cheng as he stood there, looking so serious, then glanced back at Xie Lian with a big smile. “Look at how cool he is! Passed!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng bowed a little to him. Thankful to the young master.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay so next, you have to hold your breath for uhm… ONE <em>whole</em> minute!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Silence fell in the room. Shi Qingxuan had her fan folded out to hide her smile behind. Mu Qing was getting red in the face as Feng Xin was squeezing his hand so hard he could almost break it. Anything but to not laugh out loud at the ghost boy just requesting a ghost king to hold his breath. The one that he did not have. Even Xie Lian was glad that he was half hidden behind this veil.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En. Okay,” Hua Cheng said, still his expression had not changed. “I will do it now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He pretended to take in a deep breath. And just stood there. Time seemed to pass very, very slowly, as Tao Min’s eyes went bigger and bigger, so impressed with how easily Hua Cheng could complete his task. It hadn’t even been a full minute when he let him pass with sparkles in his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And Hua Cheng pretended to take another deep breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That was tough,” he said flatly. “What is next?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min looked almost mischievous as he told his next trial.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You have to tell a secret!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh? Any particular kind?,” Hua Cheng asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A secret? Hua Cheng probably had many. But knowing Tao Min, it would probably be a rather innocent one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm….. When did you want to marry His Hi-ness?,” Tao Min asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Oh?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Without hesitation came Hua Cheng’s answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“When I was eight.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>What?</em> Xie Lian’s hand came to his chest, grasping the fabric of his robes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tehe, really?,” Tao Min giggled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes,” Hua Cheng said seriously. He only looked at Tao Min but Xie Lian felt as if his gaze was only on himself. “He saved me when I was falling, and I thought he was the most beautiful person in the entire world. I wanted to marry him right there.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But you were so young!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En. I couldn’t, when I realised he is a Crown Prince and I am not. So I devoted myself to him instead. Secretly, I wanted to become worthy of him. I didn’t think I could be, but he loved me back.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Of course he does!,” Tao Min pointed out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was actually when we had taken in Min-er,” Hua Cheng came back to the original question, while Xie Lian trembled where he stood. Very discreetly Yin Yu had slipped to his side and handed him a handkerchief that he gladly took.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Me?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Mhm. I watched him comb your hair and speak to you. Teaching you. I watched the sun reflect off his hair. I saw how powerful and gentle he was and then he looked at me. So many people hated me, feared me, and wanted to kill me. But not him. He loved me instead. In that moment I thought that perhaps I could marry him after all.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yin Yu really was the best servant in the world, Xie Lian thought as he dabbed at the corner of his eyes trying not to ruin the make up Mu Qing had put on him. He remembered that moment, how peaceful he had felt while trying to teach Tao Min to read and write. They had felt like such a family in that moment, and when he had looked at Hua Cheng… Well. All he had felt was love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To think that such thoughts had gone through his mind at the time. Only <em>then</em> had he thought he could marry him?! With everything they had gone through? Hua Cheng really was more insecure than he had ever imagined. He would change that. Every day of his life he would change that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And now you are!,” Tao Min was oblivious to the turmoil in Xie Lian’s heart and mind. “You passed, hehe! There is one more.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am ready.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Show with your arms how much you love him. Is it like this?,” Tao Min held his hands rather closely together. “Or like this?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And he spread his arms as wide as he could, and Hua Cheng immediately followed up with that same gesture.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m afraid my arms are not long enough,” he said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hehehehe,” Tao Min giggled as if it was the funniest thing in the world. “That was a joke you passed! You are allowed now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you, Min-er.” Hua Cheng leaned down to pat his head and then lift him up, holding him close to his side. Finally he stepped through the threshold and Xie Lian had to take in a deep breath. He couldn’t be crying throughout this whole ceremony!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng slowly stepped inside, walking between the two ‘rows’ of pillows. In front of Feng Xin and Mu Qing was another one, where he set down Tao Min. Then, finally, he stood in front of Xie Lian. Through the haze of the veil he thought that maybe there was a bit of nervousness in that beautiful eye.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he whispered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You may lift the veil,” Yin Yu’s voice came from somewhere. The man really managed to be invisible, and Xie Lian couldn’t tear his eyes from Hua Cheng.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Who reached out, to very gently and slowly lift the veil. Xie Lian took in a deep breath, hoping that he was to his husband-to-be’s liking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your… Highness,” Hua Cheng said so lovingly, as he tucked the veil behind the golden headpiece, to keep it from falling. Only <em>he</em> could say these words and make Xie Lian feel so treasured, so beautiful, so cared for.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One hand caressed his cheek, only very reluctantly returning to Hua Cheng’s side. It was impossible to look anywhere but him. His heart danced at the sight, unable to still for a single moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The woguan rite,” Yin Yu reminded them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The voice had come from somewhere else this time, and as Xie Lian sat down on the pillow below him, he felt someone rearrange his robes so that they were still elegant and smoothed out. Still the two never looked at anything else, barely looked away to first wash themselves, then reaching over for the other’s hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng’s was so big in his own, and Xie Lian had to smile. How safe these hands and arms often made him feel. How strangely intimate this was, washing his hands. Xie Lian’s in comparison seemed so dainty. But when it was Hua Cheng’s turn to wash them, his heart fluttered again. He watched his face as he did it, one eye diligently looking at his hand as he took this task so seriously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>How much he wanted to kiss him at this moment. It almost felt too much to bear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But under Yin Yu’s gentle reminders they shared the traditional piece of meat, then, for Xie Lian’s first time, he was handed a cup with wine. He stared down at it for a moment, still involuntarily thinking that this was not good for his cultivation. But he glanced at Hua Cheng and blushed. There were other things that he thought weren’t good for it, but he was as strong as ever. This was for love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He drank half of it, and the two exchanged their cups, then leaned in closer to cross their arms and drink the other half of the others’ cup. The wine already brought a warmth to his belly that joined the warmth of his heart, and when they leaned in Xie Lian felt himself smiling.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege looks so beautiful,” Hua Cheng whispered after they had drained their cups and were still so closely together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“And San Lang is the most handsome,” Xie Lian whispered back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They almost giggled. Like they were twelve. But the giddiness in their hearts could not be reigned in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now the bowing to husband and-,” Yin Yu almost said something else but finished with a lame. “Husband.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, don’t they have to bow to the gods?,” Tao Min asked. “They had to do that in the village!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian once more had to hold back laughter. To be fair, they had never really explained what Feng Xin and the others really were. He glanced up at his own statue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“O Crown Prince,” he said. “Would you mind if I married San Lang? Oh I don’t think I do. Why thank you, Crown Prince.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>From Feng Xin came a loud, belting laughter, while Shi Qingxuan’s snicker was a little bit more graceful. Mu Qing slapped his shoulder but he was grinning too. Even He Xuan was. He never thought he’d see the day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then a thought came to Xie Lian.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He turned so that he faced their attendants, and bowed. To his surprise, Hua Cheng just followed along with him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think those are enough gods, don’t you think?,” Xie Lian smirked at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They don’t seem to be protesting. We’ll take that as a yes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait… whaaat?,” Tao Min looked around, utter confusion on his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But the two turned to face each other once more. The second to final part, to bow to each other as husband and husband. A sudden emotion overwhelmed Xie Lian. Not just one, but a whole multitude that threatened to overwhelm him. Different faces of Hua Cheng appeared before his mind’s eye, overlapping with the sight he saw in front of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng saw the change on his face, looking concerned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang. Oh San Lang,” he sighed. He reached out to take that gentle hand in his own. “You… You were always there when I needed you. Maybe I saved you from falling, but you saved me from everything. Even that young soldier, with the Land of the-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He abruptly stopped himself. He didn’t need to reveal that particular secret of his, and took a deep breath to stop his blush.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Even back then,” his voice grew serious once more. “You died for me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang,” he continued, squeezing his hand. “That little ghost flame. Don’t think I don’t remember anymore. You stubborn thing.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt himself tearing up again, but this time he could not stop it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You saved me in that temple where you became a Wrath for me. And you saved me as Wuming, when I- Before I- You stopped me from doing something unforgivable.” He took in a deep breath. “And San Lang, then you went and saved me again from those cursed shackles. And died again. I need you now to promise me that you will never die for me again. I cannot bear it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But Gege I can just-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“No!,” he said firmly, but smiled at him. “Before we bow, I need you to promise me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng gazed at him for a long while. As if he still wanted to protest, to convince him. But then slowly that very familiar smile curled on his lips. That beautiful smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay. I promise.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian let out a sigh of relief. He let go of Hua Cheng’s hand, and placed them on the floor in front of him, where his love did the same. Finally, they bowed to one another. The only thing that was left was to cut streaks of hair from them, and bind them together. They were then placed into a small pouch that Xie Lian happily took and tucked into his robes. A token that he would treasure forever.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Presenting the- oh,” Yin Yu was interrupted when Xie Lian suddenly grasped Hua Cheng by the collar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And pulled him into a kiss.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For once he didn’t care that anyone was watching. His heart was too overwhelmed, going through certain memories, and now finally marrying the love of his life. He felt Hua Cheng’s hand on his cheek, the other pulling him close by the waist. He didn’t care that there were people seeing them deepen their kiss, didn’t care that they saw the extent of their love.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But he still flushed when he pulled away panting.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…the married couple,” Yin Yu finished rather lamely.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was polite clapping from the few attendants. Shi Qingxuan was grinning widely at them, and winked at Xie Lian when their eyes met. While Feng Xin looked rather flushed from the sight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng took his hand to help him stand, but didn’t lead him out just yet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s just one more thing we must ask,” he said. “Tao Min.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uh, what?,” Tao Min looked around confused, but quickly got up to stand in front of them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Again Hua Cheng knelt so that he was a little closer to the small boy. He took out a small silk paper package from his robes, and opened it. There was a small brooch in there. A butterfly resting on a familiar flower. A flower like the one that the Crown Prince Who Pleased The Gods was holding.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Would Tao Min officially accept to be our son?,” Hua Cheng asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian watched as Tao Min’s eyes gradually widened, in sheer disbelief for a moment. Then he started to scrunch up his cute little face, and perhaps on instinct, he even managed to cry. Wailing, like little children did, as he rushed forward to wrap his small arms around Hua Cheng.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“My papa!,” he cried into Hua Cheng’s shoulder, his little body shaking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian too had to pull out his handkerchief again to dab at his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think that’s a yes,” he said softly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He reached out to pet Tao Min’s hair, and as the boy turned to look at him, used the handkerchief to wipe his tears as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I understand it now,” Tao Min said shakily. “To cry when you are so happy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh my sweet boy.” Xie Lian piled onto the hug, holding him close.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their son was adorned with the brooch, which he glanced at every so often, beaming and wiping his tears until they finally truly subsided. They had very few guests to greet then, but each one was precious.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan approached Xie Lian, literally weeping.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was so romantiiiiic,” she cried out, falling into his arms. “Your Highness is so lucky!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I really am,” he said, glancing at Hua Cheng, who smiled at Yin Yu congratulating him at the moment. That… was probably the first time he had smiled at him. And then he even let Shi Qingxuan hug him the way she had Xie Lian. Truly, if anyone wanted something from the Ghost King, this would be the day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness,” Feng Xin’s voice made him turn to them again. He and Mu Qing had also been infected with the smiles going around, especially odd to see on the latter. They both bowed to him. “Congratulations, Your Highness.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you,” he bowed a little too. “And thank you again for coming.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mu Qing leaned in a bit closer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The young soldier…?,” he glanced at Hua Cheng.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian just nodded and smiled. Mu Qing had kicked him out of the army, to save his life, but Hua Cheng had perished on the battlefield after all, in the service of His Highness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Something was changing in the way they looked at Hua Cheng. The thought of their perceived ‘creepiness’ of the Thousand Statues Cave faded to the back of their minds as they realised the extent of his devotion. And of his sacrifices.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was good that they finally realised.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two awkwardly congratulated Hua Cheng as well, who looked like the cat who had gotten the cream. That he was clearly superior now that he had married Xie Lian. The mere thought was rather hilarious to him, and he hid his smile behind his long sleeve.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness,” a deep voice made him almost jump where he stood. He Xuan’s clothes were so dark he almost got lost in the dim light of the room.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Thank you for coming,” was all Xie Lian knew to say. A certain deed still hung in the air.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… appreciate you letting me attend,” she said. “And of course, congratulations.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a small nod, she returned to Shi Qingxuan’s side. Almost as if she was some kind of shield to protect her from social interactions. It was true that when Shi Qingxuan was in the room, most conversation was directed to, or came from her. And now she happily chatted away as everyone sat back down and Yin Yu brought out low tables for everyone and began piling up dishes upon wonderfully smelling dishes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian’s stomach rumbled terribly, realising that he had not been able to eat anything for quite some time due to his nervousness. But now he was married. A husband!! And his appetite came back with a vengeance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Though with the wide sleeves of his robes, it was a little difficult to eat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege,” Hua Cheng said softly. As Xie Lian turned, he held up a small meatball to his lips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian grinned, and opened his mouth to be fed by his husband. His husband!!!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was so happy that he didn’t care about what they looked like, if this was inappropriate, or anyone was uncomfortable seeing them this way. This was <em>their</em> day. And Tao Min’s, naturally. Who saw what they were doing and offered food to Mu Qing who was about to swear in reply but was quickly punched in the arm by his lover. Xie Lian had to laugh seeing the reluctant Mu Qing taking the food from the little boy, who was more than delighted that his crush was interacting with him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Feng Xin during their dinner kept glancing over to Shi Qingxuan, and further.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why exactly is Black Water here anyway,” he grumbled under his breath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian, unable to have his mood soured this day, replied with a smile: “Because she is my guest.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But she-,” Feng Xin started.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is an incredibly well behaved and gracious guest that did not stir up any trouble at all on this my wedding day?,” Xie Lian asked, without waiting for an answer. “I absolutely agree.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Feng Xin grumbled a bit longer but eventually muttered a ‘fine’ under his breath as Xie Lian kept aggressively smiling at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The banquet was… lovely. Yin Yu or whoever had cooked all of this had done a fantastic job, making all of Xie Lian’s favourite comfort dishes that he suspected Hua Cheng had ordered him to get. The newlyweds kept feeding each other, while Shi Qingxuan led the conversation, often adoring little Tao Min who kept showing off the brooch in his chest - a little large for the time being.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s protective, isn’t it?,” Xie Lian asked his husband quietly. He didn’t have to tell him what he meant.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En,” he said, very much enjoying the way Xie Lian doted on him. Adjusting his robes, making sure that the small trace of sauce was wiped from the corner of his mouth. “It’ll let us find him easily. Just in case.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Lang thinks of everything,” he sighed. Then whispered even more quietly: “I love you so much.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng’s smile widened and he leaned in closer, resting his forehead against that of his husband. With their eyes closed, they simply enjoyed each other’s presence for a while.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was only a little while later that he noticed another cup of wine on his table, staring at him. The one he had been drinking during the ceremony had actually tasted very nice, and the warmth in his belly had been pleasing. He reached out for it, contemplating for a moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege should indulge,” Hua Cheng’s mischievous voice in his ear. “If not today, when?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is San Lang trying to get me drunk,” he chuckled, and turned to him. Very quietly he whispered: “He doesn’t need me to be drunk for later.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng’s eye narrowed, growing darker as his gaze flicked down to Xie Lian’s collarbone. If only he knew what was underneath these robes. His cheeks flushed at the thought, and his imagination going to other things. So he quickly turned to take a sip of his wine. And then another, deeper one.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmm, I really like this,” he said. The warmth was really pleasant and the alcohol not too sharp on his tongue. Maybe he would indulge a little more at times.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll make sure Gege’s cup is filled then,” Hua Cheng leaned over, refilling it from a small bottle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fireworks?!,” Tao Min suddenly shouted excitedly. Yin Yu had shown him some, to celebrate this day. “Tall papa can I? Can I?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng stood and then helped Xie Lian to do the same. The food had been eaten, the wine made his cheeks warm and red, and the group strolled out into the warm night, led by Tao Min dragging Hua Cheng by his hand. Feeling a little woozy himself, and finding the long robes a bit cumbersome to walk in, Xie Lian remained on the porch, leaning against a wooden pole that had been fixed by Hua Cheng. So much had been fixed by him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sighed as he watched the two be joined by Shi Qingxuan and her shadow He Xuan. Setting up various fireworks, Hua Cheng always there to help and guide their son.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Their son.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He sighed again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness.” Feng Xin had joined him, leaning against the railing just in front of him. Mu Qing followed, standing right beside Xie Lian. “About some of the things you said?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hm?” He turned to look at him, still smiling.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He became a Wrath for you?,” Feng Xin asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, yes.” Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the fact that this day tormented them both so much. That it haunted his nightmares and was such a weight on his chest still. But he found himself telling the story anyway. “I was led to a temple by… by Bai Wuxiang. I was so desperate to finally get rid of him, but at first only other people showed up. He did too, in the end. When the human face disease had started to spread.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?!,” Feng Xin tensed up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had taken a cup of wine from inside with him, and took another sip.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hua Cheng had tried to stop me but he was just a ghost fire. So it was easy enough to keep him in check while I was… I was tied up,” he continued. He felt rather thirsty telling this story. “He revealed to everyone that the only way to stop the disease is to kill someone. And he… He pointed out that I had an immortal body.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness,” Mu Qing put a hand on his shoulder, alarm in his voice. But it was all in the past already. In the present Xie Lian watched the first fireworks go off, and Tao Min cheering at their colourful display in the sky.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hua Cheng could only watch me get pierced, over and over,” he was whispering, barely audible over the explosions. “There… were a hundred people in that temple.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He ignored the look of shock in their eyes, the way they glanced at each other.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I must have looked awful. And the sound…,” he shook his head as if he could get rid of the memory just by doing it. “But San Lang, he was so enraged, he burned everything. I… The day haunts my dreams often. I know I lost consciousness but lately the dream showed me that he… He formed a body that day… I returned to Feng Xin the next day.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I was- I was still there?!,” Feng Xin said, alarmed but keeping his voice down. “Why didn’t you say anything?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Everyone already thought I was crazy. I don’t blame you. I was, in a way. It just went further downhill from there, as you know,” Xie Lian explained. “But later it was San Lang again who saved me. Do you finally understand?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He couldn’t tell them about what he had almost done. Among the secrets he had, this one only San Lang knew. And Bai Wuxiang. Jun Wu. He just couldn’t bear the two finding out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Feng Xin hung his head a little.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“The statues are still creepy,” Mu Qing mumbled by his side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian had to laugh. Suddenly he had to laugh so hard that he had to hold his sides and almost spilled all of his wine. Wiping away some of the tears that had formed in the corner of his eyes from laughing, he could see the two staring at him in bewilderment. But memories of dark days could not bring him down tonight, nor could Mu Qing’s grumpiness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You know what, I will join them,” he said, handing Mu Qing his cup and lifted his robes to walk to where the action was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He embraced Tao Min and joined him in firing off a few rockets into the night sky, marvelling at the elaborate designs they created. Flowers, dragons, all kinds of mystical things. Together they watched and relaxed as more wine flowed and slowly people from the village approached. Of course they were curious, and seeing how there was a wedding were happy to join them. Soon enough the small gathering had turned into a real banquet. All the villagers had brought snacks, seats, and more alcohol to celebrate this wedding of a god to a ghost king.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Along with small and humble gifts, Xie Lian also received prayers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looked around at all these common people, who were so kind and honest to him. Who didn’t care that he was marrying a man, or had a child that was not technically his own. Once more he thought that his heart was simply too full to contain all this happiness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Tao Min yawned in his arms when the first orange glow threatened to plunge them into the next day. Xie Lian was still tipsy and saw these gods and ghosts mingle with the villagers, even Mu Qing with a smile on his face. He didn’t want this day to end, but at least one of them was far too exhausted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yin Yu, bless his heart, was right by his side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness, I can take Ah-Min to the Manor,” he said. “I’ll make sure he uh… sleeps.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian didn’t understand why he would make sure of this at first, then he felt Hua Cheng’s grip on his waist tighten, pulling him closer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege’s not forgetting something, is he?,” he whispered into his ear. Yin Yu was already gone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of course he hadn’t forgotten. It had been on his mind a lot this night, and the nights before. He just really was not good with insinuations. He stood on tiptoe and pulled Hua Cheng closer by the neck.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This husband has a surprise for San Lang.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng’s eye glowed a deeper red, and his grip tightened as well. Xie Lian yelped and giggled when he was suddenly lifted by those strong arms, holding onto his husband’s neck to steady himself. The villagers let out cheers when Hua Cheng walked towards the door of the shrine, but did not lead him into the room with the statue. Instead they ended up in their bedroom in Paradise Manor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was different too. Like the shrine it had been transformed into a dimly lit paradise of red. Small lanterns floated throughout the room, tiny copies of the ones Hua Cheng had made when he had proposed to him. Their warm light made his husband’s face look gentle, though his eye was filled with desire.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He brought Xie Lian to the bed, reconstructed into a four poster, red curtains hanging from it, partially held up. He yelped a little when Hua Cheng let them fall over, kissing him as they hit the soft mattress. Xie Lian giggled into the kiss, but his husband was already moving lower, his hands tracing the soft fabric of his robes and the golden patterns on it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And suddenly his head was gone. Lost under all the folds and different shades of red. Xie Lian felt a hand on his hardening length, felt his lacy panties pulled down and lips parting to take him in. When Hua Cheng’s hand came to the inside of his thigh, he froze.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege is…,” Hua Cheng’s voice was muffled from below, and Xie Lian flushed even further red than the wine had already done in his cheeks. “Such fabrics…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… I hope San Lang likes the surprise,” he mumbled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But Hua Cheng did not reply. Instead he felt the slight warmth of his mouth as his lips wrapped around his length, teasing him into growing harder, head bobbing up and down. It was an almost comical sight, the way his head moved underneath his robes, and Xie Lian could only cling to those instead of Hua Cheng’s hair. <em>Almost</em>, if it weren’t for the pleasure his husband brought him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His slight tipsiness and the comfort that he felt with Hua Cheng at this point let him not hold back. His fingers tightened in the fabric of his robes as his lips parted to let out the moan that had been building in his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Laaang,” he called out. “Husband~ Oh husband~”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh how good it felt! Hua Cheng did not do this often for him, mostly because Xie Lian simply adored feeling him inside too much, but this night would not be over very quickly. He closed his eyes and concentrated on how good his tongue felt against his length, how it… grew? Longer until it wrapped around him completely, moving up and down with Hua Cheng’s movements. Sometimes Xie Lian forgot that he could change his body at will.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His eyes rolled back and he arched his back into a lovely curve when his first orgasm overwhelmed him rather suddenly. Toes curling, he wondered if he had a thing for these kinds of changes…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian was panting, opening his eyes to see his husband emerge from below. Hua Cheng licked his lips, then wiped his mouth as he grinned at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I couldn’t wait to taste you,” Hua Cheng said, his voice low as he crawled over him. “Now I must open my present.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian grinned at his husband, feeling so utterly relaxed after his first orgasm. He was lying back comfortably, and watched Hua Cheng undress him. So very carefully, as if he did not want to rip the wrapping paper.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The belt was quickly removed. The first layers of his robes took a little longer. To the point where Hua Cheng was frowning and struggling, and Xie Lian had to laugh thinking about them needing Mu Qing for this as well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You must not rip it,” Xie Lian warned. He knew his husband so well at this point. “How else will I wear it again?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Again?,” Hua Cheng asked a little absentmindedly as he finally found a knot that held these robes together and was in the process of undoing it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm,” Xie Lian hummed, feeling the first layer being removed. “I know how San Lang looked at me this night. It would be a shame not to wear it for special occasions.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a twinkle in Hua Cheng’s eye as he opened up the outer layer of the robes, folding them to the side to reveal the slender figure of Xie Lian. Now only protected by one more layer. A large hand travelled from Xie Lian’s stomach to his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege is right,” Hua Cheng’s voice had changed. The look in his eye too. That hunger that Xie Lian knew too well. “I’ll be careful.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Almost overly so, as he undid the last ribbon that was holding everything together. As he pulled these robes to the side too, Hua Cheng froze for a moment. Now exposed was Xie Lian’s chest, accented by the red lingerie, the straps that elegantly framed his nipples, his bellybutton, leaving his sides and so much more exposed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Though having come once already, Xie Lian was hard again, the tip of his cock poking out from the lacy panties. Feeling very bold this night, he had also spread his legs wide for Hua Cheng to sit between them, showing his slender legs in delicate stockings.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness,” Hua Cheng breathed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As if he could not believe his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian grinned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Does my husband like his surprise?,” he asked, sitting up and as he did pulling his arms free from the long sleeves. “I’ve never worn anything like it. But for San Lang, I wanted to be special.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His question was answered with a hungry kiss, and the two fell back, tumbling and turning this way and that, so frantic to expose Hua Cheng too, to touch each other. To love one another fully. Everywhere.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But it turned out that Xie Lian also could not get through. Whether Hua Cheng wore more intricate clothing than usual, or the wine and the lust drove his mind to short circuit, he did not know. All he knew was that he wanted his husband naked. <em>Now</em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With a sudden increase in strength he grabbed the front of Hua Cheng’s robes and pushed him roughly onto the mattress. His husband seemed surprised for a moment, then a sound of ripping fabric filled the air. Hua Cheng froze. Then slowly a grin curled on his lips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Straddling his husband the way he was, Xie Lian could definitely feel a growing excitement. He mirrored Hua Cheng’s smile, and ripped his clothes apart further.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege’s so strong,” Hua Cheng almost moaned when Xie Lian displayed his strength by obliterating what he was wearing. All to get him naked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian licked his lips. Let his hands wander over that strong chest. Then his gaze wandered to the eye patch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“May I?,” he asked, reaching out for it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng only hesitated for a moment. The worry in his eye only lasted a moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En. Okay, Gege.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He didn’t always allow it. Most times Xie Lian could read him well enough that he knew if he was ready for it or not. Tonight was special, though. They were bare before each other, body and soul.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian lifted the eye patch and put it on the bedside table, leaning in to kiss his husband’s forehead. His nose. A featherlight kiss on the sunken eyelid. A passionate one to his lips. He felt Hua Cheng’s hands on his waist, gently rubbing, and his erection right against his ass. Xie Lian rolled his hips, feeling it grow right against him, but Hua Cheng held him gently in place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege I learned something,” his smirk was rather mischievous, making Xie Lian laugh a little.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is it something naughty?,” he asked. The thought got him even more excited.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En. To make it feel better,” Hua Cheng replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Better?,” he leaned down, flush against his husband’s chest. “How can it be even better?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Will Gege let me try it?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian nodded, for he trusted his husband deeply. He sat back up and watched as Hua Cheng’s hand came to his belly, caressing it gently before moving a little lower. Right above his crotch, where he was almost painfully hard. With a hungry look in his eye Hua Cheng pulled on the lacy panties, and Xie Lian quickly helped him take them off before returning to his favourite seat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng began tracing the sensitive skin just above his erection in a particular pattern. He watched him repeat it again and again, wishing that this hand was moving just to a slightly different place. But then he started to feel a comforting warmth spread in that place, somewhat different from that of his lust.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah San Lang, it’s doing something,” he gasped, and watched as his skin, where Hua Cheng had been tracing it, started to softly glow. A gentle red glow that oddly matched his lingerie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How does it feel?,” Hua Cheng asked, looking up at him with a smirk.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Warm, ahhh~,” he couldn’t help the moan that tumbled from his lips, unable to be contained. The warmth didn’t just gather in front, spreading from crotch to belly, it also felt different elsewhere. When Xie Lian reached back and pressed his fingers between his cheeks he found himself wet. More so than ever before. Whatever spell he had innately been using, this one seemed to be far more powerful. “San Lang, it’s… ahhh-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He couldn’t wait any longer. He absolutely could not. Glancing down he saw that the red light had settled on his skin, forming a beautiful flower. With his hands on Hua Cheng’s chest he lifted his hips to sink down on his cock. As it slid so easily into him, he found himself sighing at the new sensation. His body had become even more sensitive, to the point that it was almost overwhelming. Hua Cheng’s big length filled him so beautifully.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, Gege you feel so tight,” Hua Cheng gripped his hips, making sure he was taking all of him in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Where did you learn such a spell?,” Xie Lian couldn’t close his eyes to just enjoy the feeling, no, he had to gaze at his handsome husband. His eyes were hungry for the sight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Slowly he rolled his hips, encouraged by Hua Cheng’s hands guiding him along. With the movement came a sharp increase of his pleasure, every single nerve of his body on fire. He wasn’t sure that he could take it for much longer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I did some- some research,” Hua Cheng gasped. His hands weren’t idle, they were just as hungry for his husband, exploring and sliding underneath the straps of the lingerie. Caressing soft skin and perky nipples. “With- With Jian Lan.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian thought of Hua Cheng sitting in ancient, dusty libraries and reading scrolls, taking notes and practising this spell. It was hard to hold back his laughter, but at that moment Hua Cheng thrust up into him, the symbol on him glowed a deeper red and Xie Lian felt himself tighten around him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The strength left him with each thrust, each rolling of his own hips, so hungry for more pleasure, but unable to keep up this rhythm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“S-San Lang I need- I can’t-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Let me take care of Gege,” San Lang swiftly embraced him and a moment later they had switched positions. Xie Lian relaxed against the soft mattress, feeling his hair spread out under him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>For a moment Hua Cheng stopped, still inside him but not moving, and reached to caress his cheek.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Husband,” he whispered, smiling just the way Xie Lian was.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Suddenly he felt overwhelmed. There was so much love in that gaze of his. Love for not just his god, but Xie Lian, the way he was. With all the good and the bad.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Husband,” he whispered back, voice cracking just a little. The tears that formed in the corner of his eyes were kissed away. As he drew him closer, he whispered it over and over again: “I love you, husband. I love you. I love you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Each word, each declaration spurred Hua Cheng on. He began again to roll his hips slowly at first, until Xie Lian’s tears were dried and his moans tumbled freely into Hua Cheng’s ear, so close to his hips. It was intimate, passionate, rough and tender all at once. The mark burned on Xie Lian’s skin, getting them both drunk on this new height of pleasure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And when Hua Cheng spilled deep inside him, the feeling of his hot seed and thick cock easily sent him to his own orgasm. Whether it was the mark or the sheer depth of the love Xie Lian felt in that moment, he found his eyes clouding over with darkness for a moment. The pleasure seemed to surge through him for much longer, waves that made his body twitch, his back arching.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It left him breathless.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“S-San Lang…,” he gasped as Hua Cheng came back into view. He let his hands fall from where they had been on his back, noticing redness under his fingernails. “Oh San Lang, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege doesn’t have to worry,” Hua Cheng smirked down at him. “I like when Gege’s so lost. It’s the prettiest expression on you.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“San Laaang~,” he whined a little but ultimately had to laugh again. He was already exposed before him, having done all this… What was there to be embarrassed about?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He looked down to where they were still joined together. He had spilled over himself, staining some of the lingerie, but his gaze wandered to the mark on him. His hand came to it, feeling the warmth underneath.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I like it,” he said, feeling very pleased.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege must not be mad,” Hua Cheng looked away a little sheepishly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hm?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… thought I could alter it to be… not permanent.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian chuckled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“But it is permanent?,” he asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I… am afraid so.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian shook his head, chuckling, and pulled Hua Cheng’s face close so that he could kiss it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It felt incredible. I am marked, by my husband. I am not mad,” he said softly. “I… really like it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege is sure?,” Hua Cheng asked softly.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I am. San Lang?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you,” Xie Lian said again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hua Cheng hesitated for a moment, looked at him with such a complicated expression. As if he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. In a way, Xie Lian could understand these feelings.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you too,” he whispered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was most likely early in the morning when they finally fell asleep, when Xie Lian was cuddled in the best embrace he could imagine. Here he slept for the longest time, welcomed by smiles and kisses when he finally did wake up. He was absolutely on clouds for weeks after the wedding. Thinking of his husband by his side, seeing him by his side, made him happier than he could have imagined.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a quiet time in which the three of them spent time as a family, doing mundane and domestic things. Taking out their boy to show him far away places, to take him to a food festival during which they gorged themselves on delicacies, following prayers and helping the village out again, where Tao Min was basically being worshipped himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With him being so lost in their life as a family, he only heard the rumours about Lady Wind Master having returned to the Heavenly City from herself. She had contacted him to meet up in a tea house in that city they had gotten Xie Lian’s wedding robes from. It was set on a high mountain, overlooking the bustling city below. For the first time since the wedding he had gone out alone, and he already missed his husband so much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were in their private gazebo, away from prying eyes or ears.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re still smiling,” Shi Qingxuan teased him. “Will you ever stop?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Most likely not,” he sighed. “My husband makes me too happy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, you like calling him that, hm?,” she pushed an elegant dish with pastries in the shape of flowers towards him. Delicious pastries he eagerly took. “I am a little envious.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How are things?,” he asked. “Have you been travelling with He Xuan?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She nodded. With her tea cup in hand, she glanced over at the city, seemingly a little wistful.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I have,” she replied. “Though I have not mentioned him when I returned. Only that my devoted believers must have prayed for my return. No one really questioned it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s good at least, it won’t be stirring up any trouble then,” Xie Lian watched her carefully. She slowly turned towards him again.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I feel ashamed for loving him,” she told him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Lady Wind Master-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Imagine how angry my brother would be if he saw this,” she continued. “How selfish I am…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think that sometimes it’s not bad being a bit selfish,” Xie Lian said quietly. “If this is what your heart wants, then there is no need to think about right and wrong.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s kind of you to say,” Shi Qingxuan replied, and let out a deep sigh. “As complicated as this makes me feel, I wish to keep it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I understand.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He gave her a smile and reached out to take her hand, squeezing it as both of them rested on the table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Is he treating you well?,” he asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan nodded, the tips of her ears going a bit red.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He never complains about all the travelling,” she said. “Or getting his hands dirty when we’re helping people. It’s like he wants to apologise but doesn’t know the words, so he does it by his actions.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Sometimes they are more important.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“He’s… very kind to me. I’m not sure I deserve it, but he can be rather romantic.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Really?,” Xie Lian had to laugh a little. It was difficult to imagine He Xuan as a romantic. He leaned in a little closer. “What does he do?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s… silly things really,” the blush in her ears deepened and spread a bit further. “We were strolling from one town to the next when he stopped to pick a flower. Put it in my hair.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s not silly, that’s wonderful.” He knew from experience.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I know!,” she blurted out, opening her fan to blow some gentle air into her face. “And the other night he just picked me up, jumped to a roof and we gazed up at the stars. Of course there’s also the times where he changes into his female form, because he knows I like it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I noticed last time that his female form, ah, how do I say this?” He had pulled back his hand and now held both of them before his chest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Shi Qingxuan looked at them, as Xie Lian gestured for even larger breasts.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And laughed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness!,” she was wheezing, almost falling over onto her side and Xie Lian couldn’t help but join in. “Your Highness why I’d never!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Together they laughed heartily and drew the attention of others, even sitting so far away from them. But it felt good to do so, to change their conversation to something a little more light hearted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Things had turned out well in the end, Xie Lian thought. He had gotten his own happy ending, and Shi Qingxuan might still get hers. In the meantime, he would be her friend, and she would be part of his family.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>An idea came to him then.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>San Lang?,</em> he asked through their private array. <em>Would you mind if Lady Wind Master came for dinner?</em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Ah, that is rather convenient.</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>Oh?</em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em>Gege has two other visitors at the shrine,</em> Hua Cheng replied.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Curious, he still took this as a yes and the two returned together to find two familiar faces waiting for them. Hua Cheng was leaning against the front of the shrine, while Tao Min seemed to be the one taking care of their two guests. He had once again decided Mu Qing was the object of his affection, proudly showing him some of the stances he had been taught by his taller father.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Your Highness,” Feng Xin was greeting him with a smile. “Lady Wind Master.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh I’m so glad to see you!,” Xie Lian all but skipped towards him. “I’m afraid dinner with everyone will be a bit difficult in the shrine. Let’s talk to Yin Yu.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En. The Manor then,” Hua Cheng said, coming to join them. “Min-er. How about you show your uncle your dice.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh yes!,” Tao Min’s eyes sparkled as he pulled out his own set. They looked almost comically large in his small hands. He went to Mu Qing to take his hand, unfazed by the grumpy expression on his face. “It’s real easy, anyone can do it!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I kinda doubt that,” Mu Qing grumbled under his breath. But he went along anyway, watching the boy close the door, roll his dice, then open it again into the familiar red hallway of Paradise Manor.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Want to invite He Xuan?,” Xie Lian still had Lady Wind Master on his arm and led her through the door. “May as well if we’re all together.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s really okay?,” she asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Why not? It’s not like those two can stir up trouble while in Ghost City,” he replied with a smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Alright then.” She grinned at him and went silent for a while, no doubt contacting He Xuan in private.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They gathered together in the main hall where the biggest table could seat them all comfortably. Yin Yu was quickly off to the kitchen to work for them, while Tao Min made sure to place himself in Mu Qing’s lap. The man had a surprising amount of patience for the boy, which made Xie Lian see him in another light. Along with his unnecessary apology the day of his wedding…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege?,” Hua Cheng sounded rather surprised when Xie Lian leaned against him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It’s just us, isn’t it?,” he mused, turning to look up at him. “They saw us get married, I do not think they would be surprised I like to lean on my husband.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege is right as always.” A smile tugged at one corner of his lips, and an arm came around Xie Lian, holding him that way. Then a bit more quiet he echoed the word: “Husband.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It wasn’t long before He Xuan arrived as well, and dishes were brought out to the table by Yin Yu and a few other servants. Most of them Xie Lian had never seen before, he had always assumed that Hua Cheng wanted them to have as much privacy as they could. That was why Yin Yu was often sneaking away from them too, but this time Xie Lian caught it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yin Yu, stay and have dinner with us,” he said.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He froze and looked back with that awkward way of his that at this point Xie Lian found rather endearing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, uncle please stay,” Tao Min grinned at him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I- uh, if His Highness insists,” he mumbled, sitting at a corner next to Mu Qing, not really meeting anyone’s eyes. But Tao Min was already busy piling food from the dishes in the centre onto Yin Yu’s plate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uncle’s cooking is the best! Papa can’t cook at all, I tried it once but it made my stomach queasy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Be glad that’s all it was,” Mu Qing snorted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I think Gege’s cooking is the best,” Hua Cheng said firmly, nodding to himself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Tall papa is weird sometimes,” Tao Min whispered to Mu Qing, although everyone could still hear. “I think he loves him too much so he doesn’t want to be mean. But it’s normal to not be good at everything!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By their side, Feng Xin was pressing a hand to his mouth, clearly snickering but trying to hide it out of courtesy. It did not work at all, but Xie Lian also didn’t mind. He was fully aware that Hua Cheng only ate it because he was the one who made it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yin Yu’s food really was very good, and he had been surprised to hear that he was actually the one cooking it at times. He happily let Hua Cheng feed him a morsel of it, feeling very pampered and happy at the moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hmmm, steamed buns,” he mumbled giddily to himself as he was handed one. He tore it into two halves, inhaling the scent of it before taking a bite.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are you okay to eat today?,” Shi Qingxuan’s voice was low as she spoke to He Xuan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“En,” He Xuan replied quietly. The way he looked at the Wind Master felt similar to the way Hua Cheng looked at him. As if he was grateful for the concern. “A little, at least.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Try this then. These pickled vegetables are really good,” she continued as she too placed some food on his plate. “Not too spicy. Don’t eat that dish over there, it’ll hurt your tummy.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian watched this intimate scene with a smile, letting his gaze wander. Chewing on his bun he noticed Feng Xin with a gentle gaze too, as he glanced over at his love, the way he actually interacted with Tao Min. Despite his grumpy looks he could almost swear that he was enjoying the boy’s company. Who would have thought.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Aren’t you tired of serving them?,” Mu Qing blurted out when he saw Yin Yu run back and forth a few times to refill dishes that Xie Lian had absolutely decimated. “You were a god.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Who, me?,” Yin Yu was startled to notice anyone actually talking to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, you!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Er, not really,” he replied carefully. “They’re good people.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re talking about a ghost king!,” Mu Qing pointed out. Then saw Black Water and Hua Cheng raise their eyebrows at him. He looked back and forth between them before shrugging. “What?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hua Cheng-zu has always treated me well,” Yin Yu told him. He was flushing a little red, feeling everyone’s gaze on him. He wasn’t used to it. “Unlike some other people - or gods. I don’t think I need to tell you about His Highness. I admire him.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Xie Lian almost choked on his bun, and he felt Hua Cheng’s hand on his back, rubbing gently. Admire? Him?! He had been the laughing stock of the Heavenly Court for a long time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“As he should,” Hua Cheng whispered behind him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They treat me like… a person,” Yin Yu continued quietly. “And I’ll continue to serve them for as long as they want me.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yin Yu…,” Xie Lian muttered softly, but his son was faster in getting to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Uncle can’t leave!,” he told him, suddenly hugging his side. “I would miss uncle too much.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Don’t worry, Ah-Min. I’m not going anywhere.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Good! But what did uncle mean about gods?,” Tao Min asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Hm? Well, I used to be one, with everyone else,” Yin Yu glanced at Feng Xin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Huh?” The gears in Tao Min’s head turned slowly, but after a few moments his eyes widened.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>With absolute shock he turned to Feng Xin and Mu Qing, staring at them for a while longer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Are gods real?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As laughter burst out around the table and Tao Min looked at all of them in turn, absolutely confused and bewildered, Xie Lian found himself stopping for a moment. All of them here together, sharing food and laughter among them… This was what family is. This was <em>his</em> family, as complicated as it could be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To have one after all these years… To look forward again to the future. Xie Lian felt that he must do anything to protect these precious feelings and people.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And when he kissed his beloved, he felt at peace.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Gege?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I love you, San Lang.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I have a <a href="https://twitter.com/valkyrieshepard">Twitter</a> and an <a href="https://twitter.com/valdrawsart">art twitter</a> where I sometimes do fanart. I've <a href="https://twitter.com/valdrawsart/status/1355909391845875714">drawn</a> grown up <a href="https://twitter.com/valdrawsart/status/1355241841596239877">Tao Min</a> three <a href="https://twitter.com/valdrawsart/status/1353380264387375105">times</a> already lol. If you're interested in seeing some fanart feel free to drop me some suggestions :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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